Zoocific Rim
by Anistuffs
Summary: We always thought alien life would come from the stars. But it came from deep beneath the sea; a portal between dimensions in the Zoocific Ocean. Something out there had discovered us. They counted on the mammals to hide, to give up. They never considered our ability to stand, that we would rise to the challenge. In order to fight monsters, we created monsters of our own...
1. Prologue

Prologue

* * *

We always thought alien life would come from the stars… But it came from deep beneath the sea. At the bottom of the Marhyena Trench, the deepest point on the planet's seabed in the Zoocific Ocean, appeared a portal between dimensions, one we would come to know simply as the Breach.

The first Kaiju came through the Breach on 10th August, 2013. At 0700 hours it made land in San Furcisco. A beast as big as a skyscraper. By the time tanks, jets and missiles took it down, six days and thirty-five miles later, three cities were destroyed and tens of thousands of lives were lost. Some of those missiles were tactical nukes. The Kaiju, which got the code name Trespasser, survived the first two. The third finally took it down, but there are places around the area where people won't be able to live for centuries.

But the monster was dead and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Mammalkind mourned their dead, memorialized the attack and moved on.

Scientists attempted to locate the origin of the monster but the Breach had already closed. They got their chance just six months later, when the Breach opened again and puked out another Kaiju. This time, the target was Bunnila and the Zootopian military were forced to nuke it again.

It was then that the long-term ramifications of these attacks became apparent. The poisonous blue-coloured blood of the Kaijus combined with the toxins off-gassed by recently-deceased Kaiju tissue created the phenomena known as Kaiju Blue, where the toxins would coat any living organism and starved it of oxygen, asphyxiating it to death. Thus creating the Exclusion Zone in the Bunnila Bay, a large region entirely devoid of any marine life.

The third attack came a little less than five months after that. It almost destroyed Cubbo San Leocas before it too was nuked to cinders.

And then the fourth attack hit Sydneigh…

It was then that mammalkind finally realized that the Kaijus were not going to stop coming. This was just the beginning...

Every time, tactical nukes were the only thing that took the Kaijus down, but large swathes of land and sea were destroyed and rendered uninhabitable. We couldn't keep using nuclear weapons or pretty soon the whole planet was going to be irradiated by nukes. No conventional military could handle them. They didn't even notice tank shells. Missiles hurt them a little, but couldn't take them down. They were the closest thing to invincible that our world had ever seen.

But that was when mammalkind started to show its best. The world came together, pooling its resources and throwing aside old rivalries for the sake of the greater good: the survival of all mammals.

To fight monsters, we created monsters of our own…

The best engineers, roboticists and military minds of the world put their heads together to create the only thing that could stop something the size of a Kaiju without having to resort to nuclear weapons: robots.

Called Jaegers, these robots were over thirty storeys tall, bristling with weaponry and wired to respond to their pilots' commands as if they were an extension of the pilots' own bodies.

The Jaeger Program was born.

There were setbacks at first. The neural load to interface with a Jaeger proved too much for a single pilot. So, a two-pilot system was implemented ‒ one pilot controlling the left hemisphere and the other controlling the right hemisphere of the Jaeger. Even then the mental strain was phenomenal. But a team of neuroscientists figured out a radical solution, the Drift.

Based on advanced neurological research in recent years, the minds of two pilots can be melded together through their memories via the Drift space, to the body of the giant machine. The deeper the bond between the mammals, the better the Drift responded to their commands on the Jaeger, and the better they fought. Drift compatibility between two persons were found to be completely random. A mammal can have a higher compatibility with a complete stranger of a different species than their next of kin. But after the connection had been made once, the two individuals would become as close as soulmates.

Finally, mammalkind was ready to fight back. It was time for the Kaijus to pick on something their own size...

* * *

Author's Note:

Welp, here we are. Basically the idea of Zootopia + Pacific Rim came from a discussion with aemx, author of the amazing fanfic Zootopia: Thicker Than Blood, Link: archiveofourown_org/works/7569217/chapters/17219935 and fanfiction_net/s/12072871/1/Zootopia-Thicker-Than-Blood (replace _ with .)

I was saying how refreshing Zootopia was in that it was a movie where the male and female leads have no romantic subplot whatsoever, which reminded me of Pacific Rim, where the male and female lead had no romantic subplot either. My brain made the connection and I was almost floored by the sheer epicness when I imagined the events of Pacific Rim occurring in the Zootopia universe.

Immediately, I did a google search for 'Zootopia Pacific Rim' and found these 2 beautiful artworks: imgur_com/a/To9xF (replace _ with .)

The plan was decided, my hands were tied. This was a story that NEEDED to be told and if nobody else had done it yet, well, it might as well be me. So here you go :D

Please pester me with comments/reviews so that I may be encouraged not to sit on my lazy butt like I did with my last fanfic.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

* * *

10 March, 2023 - Kaiju War, Year 10  
Ancougarage Shatterdome, Pawlaska, ZSA

"Bogie advancing fast in sector seven", said Benjamin Clawhauser, the portly cheetah communications officer at the Local Command Centre a.k.a. LOCCENT of the Ancougarage Shatterdome, located along the coastline just outside the city limits.

"Signature and category?" The voice belonged to Marshall Bogo Pentecost, the quiet, authoritative and no-nonsense cape buffalo commander at the Shatterdome.

Clawhauser scanned and synthesized the data from the array of hundreds of remote sensors that dotted the Zoocific Ocean centered on the Breach, located south of the Jaguam Islands. He could get information on a Kaiju's mass, speed and physical form within seconds of it emerging from the Marhyena Trench.

"Holy sprinkles!" Clawhauser said. "Eight thousand seven hundred tons of displacement, sir. It's the largest Category 3 we've seen so far."

"Tactics and trajectory?" Bogo's calm demeanor was a perfect foil that of the excitable cheetah.

Clawhauser scanned the deployment pings of the other Jaeger bases around the Zoocific Rim. "Califurnia sent out Romeow Blue... but it slipped by without breaking the ten-mile line."

That was the Jaegers' target distance for intercepting Kaijus. If a Kaiju got inside the ten miles, it was nigh-impossible to stop them before they got their feet on land... and their teeth into the unfortunate mammals who had not yet evacuated that land.

Even though observing the Kaiju was a piece of cake when they emerged from the Breach, keeping track of them in the open ocean was a lot harder. They were fast and their silicon-based anatomy meant that they didn't have a thermal signature that showed up against the deep-ocean background. Radar worked well at closer range, but the Zoocific Ocean was so big that it was impossible to have complete real-time radar coverage at the depths the Kaijus occupied.

That meant defensive action had to take place along the continental shelves and inward, where the Kaijus were easier to spot. But by then, they were also dangerously close to land. Jaeger deployments happened on a knife-edge of timing and luck.

"Get Califurnia on the comm", Bogo said. "I want the satellite readings on-screen. And get Foxy Danger on deck. Now."

* * *

"Foxy Danger, report to Bay 08, Level A-42."

Nick Wilde heard the alarm and was moving before he was completely awake, swinging out of the upper bunk in the rangers' quarters, and talking before the red fox's feet hit the ground. "Finn, get up! Movement in the Breach!" he said as he picked up his shirt and ran to the attached bathroom. In response, Nick's older brother Finnick, the big-eared fennec fox in the lower bunk, didn't even move a muscle.

Nick came out of the bathroom a while later and found his brother still asleep. So, he kicked the edge of the bunk without hesitation. "Let's go, Big Guy! Wakey wakey!" He spoke excitedly as he peered into the deployment monitor at the corner of the room, "C'mon, we're being deployed!"

"Great", Finnick grumbled as he got up from the bed, scratching his right ear with a scowl on his face.

"Good morning, sunshine," Nick said with a chuckle. "This one's a Category 3; biggest yet." He looked away from the deployment monitor and started putting on his uniform. "Codename Knifehead."

Finnick muttered something incomprehensible while he looked around for his clothes. "Morning? What time is it?"

"Two."

"Of course it is.", Finnick grumbled again with an even greater scowl, as he grabbed his clothes from a chair.

"What do you say, Finn? Fifth notch on the belt?" Nick said, stretching out his paw downwards for a fistbump while someone from outside the room yelled, "Come on, Wildes. Time for the drop."

Finnick clumsily responded to the fistbump while heading towards the bathroom. He entered the bathroom and turned back. Just before he closed the door, he said with a smug smile, an uncharacteristic sign of excitation in the almost-perpetually grumpy face, "Hey Kiddo, don't get cocky."

Less than two minutes later, the two brothers walked down the hallways of the base and into the suiting area.

The Drivesuit was a finicky and multi-layered piece of equipment. The first layer, the circuitry suit, was like a wetsuit threaded with a mesh of synaptic processors. The pattern of processor relays looked like circuitry on the outside of the suit, gleaming gold against its smooth black polymer material. During suit-up, data relay gel were dispersed in the circuitry suit which allowed the artificial synapses of the suit to transmit commands to the Jaeger's motor systems as fast as the pilots' brains could generate them, with lag times close to zero. The synaptic processor array also transmitted pain signals to the pilots when their Jaeger was damaged. This had proven to be the best way to minimize reaction times, and Nick knew from experience that when you felt a Kaiju's teeth bite into your arm, you definitely moved faster than if you were just watching everything on a screen.

The second layer was a sealed polycarbonate shell with full life-support atmospheric regulators and magnetic interfaces at the spine, feet, and all major limb joints. It relayed neural signals, both incoming and outgoing. It was white and shiny and also bulletproof, though they hadn't yet seen a Kaiju that shot bullets.

The outer armored layer of the Drivesuit also kept pilots locked into the Conn-Pod's Pilot Motion Rig, a command platform with geared locks for the rangers' boots, cabled extensors that attached to each suit gauntlet, and a full-spectrum neural transference plate, called the Feedback Cradle, that locked from the motion rig to the spine of each ranger's suit. At the front of the motion rig stood a command console, but most of a ranger's commands were issued either by the Drift connection, voice or through interaction with the holographic heads-up display projected into the space in front of the pilots' faces.

Nick and Finnick were already wearing the close-fitting cranial sleeves rangers called 'Thinking Caps', which put their brain functions directly into the loop when they synced everything together for the Drift. Once they were suited up, Finnick and Nick stepped into the Conn-Pod, attached to the cranial frame inside Foxy Danger's detached head. The tech crew followed them, affixing the Feedback Cradle to the backs of their suits and cabling them into the interface drivers that transmitted their nerve impulses into Foxy Danger itself.

Back in the Stone Age, in 2015, the first rough Jaeger prototype had used a single pilot. This hadn't lasted long. The neural overload traumatized or killed several volunteers before the first full prototype rolled out on Kuduak Island with a Conn-Pod built for two. When the Pons mechanism was perfected and the two-pilot Drift was made possible, the Jaeger Project finally became a reality.

All of the Jaegers since then had been designed from the ground up with two ranger pilots in mind; except for Felid Typhoon, a Jaeger designed in Chyena, which Nick had heard was piloted by a crew of three big cats. One day he hoped to serve with them, just to see how three pilots acted together as one.

They stood on adjacent platforms, arms and legs spread. Control assemblies extended from the floor of the Conn-Pod, cybernetically mated with each suit, and spawned the holographic HUD above the command console. The tech crew checked each link to make sure it was solid and then they withdrew, locking the door shut behind them.

The ring-shaped arm controllers for each pilot, which controlled each respective hemisphere of the Jaeger, slid up the side of the Conn-Pod and attached themselves to the Drivesuit's wrists; the arm controller for the left hemisphere attaching to Nick's left arm and the one for the right hemisphere attaching to Finnick's right arm. The brothers ran their pre-deployment suit checks and pre-Drift link analysis. Everything looked right.

"Morning, boys," Benjamin Clawhauser said through the comm.

"Benji, my mammal!" Nick called out.

Finnick sent the all-clear from his suit and asked, "Hey, Spots. How'd your date with Elkison go last night?"

"Oh, it went great. We had a wonderful conversation about Gazelle. Well, I did most of the talking but she seemed pretty into her as well." Clawhauser replied cheerfully. "Unfortunately, she had to leave pretty early because of some family emergency. I hope everything's alright."

Finnick and Nick gave each other a knowing smirk while the oblivious cheetah prattled on.

"Engage drop, Mr. Clawhauser." Bogo Pentecost's voice cut off their banter.

Clawhauser immediately sat up straight as he spoke in tenser voice, "Engaging drop, sir. Marshall Bogo Pentecost on deck." The cheetah quickly started the drop procedure. "Conn-Pod door lock, secure. Getting ready to drop."

"Release for drop," Finnick said.

"Here we go," Nick responded.

Simultaneously they each hit buttons on the command console.

With a booming metallic noise, the gantry holding Foxy Danger's head rapidly dropped down along a vertical shaft, channeled by rails on either side. Nick's stomach lurched, just like it did every time. Then the gantry slowed, easing the Jaeger's head into place on Foxy Danger's cervical assembly that rotated the head and locked it into place on the upright body of the Jaeger.

Launched five years ago in 2018, Foxy Danger was a joint project by Canida, Zoonited States of Americats and Foxico for defense of the western coastline of the continent. The fox-shaped giant robot was eventually stationed at the Pawlaska Shatterdome to be piloted by the Wilde brothers. The Mark 3 Jaeger was powered by a nuclear vortex turbine with improved reactor shieldings to protect the pilots from the radiation. Even so, as part of protocol, all rangers deployed in pre-Mark 4 Jaegers were required to maintain a daily dose of Metharocin for the duration of their service in the PZDC.

Bolts and hooks connected and automated gears engaged, uniting the head and body of the Jaeger into a two hundred and eighty eight foot monster-fighting robot.

"We are locked," Nick spoke over the comm.

"Coupling confirmed, sir," Clawhauser said to Bogo.

Bogo nodded and commanded, "Engage pilot-to-pilot protocol."

"Engaging now," the cheetah responded. "Pilot-to-pilot protocol sequence, ready and aligned, sir."

Moments later, Foxy Danger's nuclear-powered central turbine roared to full power as Clawhauser released the command-and-control to the Wilde brothers.

The Jaeger Launch Bay groaned as the bay doors opened and a sliding platform extended out over the sea, carrying Foxy Danger on a gantry out into the violent winter storm. Effective visual range was measured in tens of meters, but Nick and Finnick were also looking through sensory arrays that ranged from infrared to ultraviolet, radar to sonar, synthesized into a full-spectrum view of the North Zoocific. Rangers needed the whole spectrum to track Kaijus due to their alien biology.

From the LOCCENT, Clawhauser signalled the gantry to unlock, dropping the two thousand ton Jaeger into the water with the force of a small meteor impact.

"Rangers, this is Marshall Bogo Pentecost", came their commander's voice. He was formal as ever at this moment. "Prepare for neural handshake."

"Starting in fifteen seconds", said Clawhauser as he continued to count down the time.

Inside Foxy Danger, one of the displays spawned a holographic representation of two brains, and the thousands of links between them and the Jaeger's motor assemblies.

Finnick turned to his younger but larger brother and said, "Ready to step into my head, Kiddo?"

Nick quipped back with a smirk, "Please, after you. Age before beauty."

Back inside LOCCENT, Clawhauser reached the end of the countdown. "Four... three… two… one… Neural handshake, initiated."

And the two brothers' consciousness exploded into Drift Space.

* * *

It was Nick's earliest memory; him a kit of two and a half years hugging onto the fluffy tail of his older brother, staining his soft fur with blueberries their father had brought, much to Finnick's chagrin, while both their parents laughed at their antics.

The next memory was when Nick was six years old and Finnick was eleven, playing with sticks in the livingroom of their little apartment in Ancougarage.

"Run, Finn! Run!" Nick was yelling gleefully at his fourteen year old brother who was running for second base. When the game ended, Finnick joined his family while wearing an oversized baseball cap, courtesy of a moose teammate. Nick gave his brother a big hug which the smaller fennec grumbled at first before returning the gesture warmly.

A balloon popped. It was Nick's twelfth birthday. Finnick had just graduated and got a job at an ice cream parlour. He brought Nick's favourite, blueberry sundae.

The arguments started a few weeks later. Their parents would yell at each other for hours on end. Their mother resumed her old vice, smoking.

A few weeks before Nick turned fourteen, the brothers woke up to find that their father had left, never to return. Their mother was heartbroken and her daily quota of cigarettes increased, despite the concerns of her sons.

Nick was fifteen when the first Kaiju attacked. Their eyes were glued to the screen for the next six days until the monster was finally killed.

He remembered senior prom. He went with Marian, a smart and pretty arctic vixen, who gave him his first kiss.

When Nick graduated, it was the happiest he'd ever seen his mother. He got a job at a garage as a car mechanic, just two blocks from the ice cream parlour where Finnick worked. Marian got into the University of Califurnia and had to move to Los Antleres, so they broke up. Nick was heartbroken for months.

Their mother died. Lung cancer. _We told you, mom. We told you to stop. But you never listened. You never listened..._

It was 2015, the economy had been struggling ever since the Kaiju attacks began. The ice cream parlour had to close down. Just a few weeks later, the garage was foreclosed by the bank. The brothers started hustling on the streets, skirting the edge of the law but never doing anything actually illegal.

The Shatterdome at Ancougarage became operational on 23rd November, 2016. The two brothers applied for the Jaeger Program on the Shatterdome's first recruitment drive, in early 2017.

The two foxes were never star athletes, never at the head of their classes, but they could always hold their own. As foxes, being sneaky came with the territory. But when the two brothers had each other's back, they had taken down mammals as big as an elephant, through strategy and cunning, when not by force.

At the academy they finally learnt why, despite being adoptive brothers, they were more in tune with one another than blood relatives; they were Drift compatible.

The last rush of time and space and feeling came, stray thoughts caught up in the first tempest of the Drift.

Working on greasy old cars at the garage, their mother hugging them both, Kwoon combat training…

 _You know what I really don't like is muzzles._ Marian's soft laughter…

The trickle of blood coming from his nose but that hippo deserved it… _You can't just pick on other mammals because they're small, you can't…_

His mother loomed over him. _You can't pick every fight either, sweety…_

 _Dad, why did you have to go? We could've been a happy family, the four of us…_

 _Mom, why didn't you stop smoking? We told you... Why didn't you listen?_

 _There's no other choice, Nicky. We need to eat. And the two of us is all we have..._

Nick had tried so hard to hide his tears… _Fine, but we're not doing anything illegal. We can trick other mammals, but we are not stealing from people…_

 _Okay Kiddo, I promise. Hey, chin up, we brothers have to stick together..._

Pawlaska. 2023. The present reasserted itself. Time to go save the world. Again.

* * *

Reality coalesced from the welter of consciousness of the Drift, and Nick heard the voice of Benjamin Clawhauser, like an anchor to the real world. "Neural handshake strong and holding," the cheetah said, as the graphic on his screen showed two brains converged into one.

Nick and Finnick were part of the Jaeger now, and part of each other. Their arm controllers showed holographic images of each hemisphere of the Jaeger's brain functions, displayed as a biological brain representing each pilot.

"Right hemisphere, calibrated," Finnick said as he lifted his right arm, the right arm of the Jaeger lifting in response.

Nick lifted his left arm, the Jaeger following suit, as he gave the all-clear, "Left hemisphere, calibrated. Proofed and transmitting."

They both moved both arms in identical motions and used the left arm to punch the right arm's open palm. Foxy Danger instantly followed the motion to the letter and the massive robot punched its right palm with its left arm, confirming the hundred-percent link between the gargantuan Jaeger and the two minds controlling it.

"Gentlemammals," Bogo said over the comm. "Your orders are to hold the Miracle Mile off Ancougarage. Copy?"

The Miracle Mile was the last-ditch perimeter, so named because if a Kaiju got through the ten-mile cordon, it was usually a miracle if a Jaeger could keep it from coming ashore.

"Copy that," Finnick said. Then he hesitated as their holographic display showed a new signal. "Chief", he went on, "there's still a civilian vessel in the Gulf..."

Bogo cut him off. "Rangers, you're protecting a city of two million mammals. You will not risk those lives for a boat that holds ten. Am I clear?"

"Yessir", was Finnick's reluctant reply as he turned off the comm.

"Geez, that's cold", Nick huffed, his tone as equally reluctant as his older brother's.

Bogo was clear, but something else was also clear; the boat was in fact outside the Miracle Mile. If Foxy Danger engaged the Kaiju before it got near the boat, they would technically be following Bogo's orders to the letter. However, if the engaged the Kaiju anywhere near the boat, the waves generated in the fight would tear it and its occupants to pieces.

Nick looked at Finnick, who was already looking back at him, and asked, "You know what I'm thinking?"

"I'm in your brain, Kiddo. I know," Finnick replied, as they both grinned at each other.

"Then let's go fishing," Nick said with a smirk.

Simultaneously they hit the switches that engaged Foxy Danger's motor controls. The Jaeger jerked to motion as both brothers started walking in their motion rig, controlling the legs of the giant robot.

"Come on, Big Guy," Nick said. "Put some muscle into it."

"Heh, worry about yourself, Kiddo," Finnick replied, continuing their non-stop brotherly verbal jousting.

The Jaeger strode forward away from the LOCCENT bay doors. A couple of helicopters followed it for a while as it slowly sunk deeper and deeper into the water of the bay with each quaking step. Eventually, the helicopters peeled away and returned to the base as the walking mountain of metal disappeared into the heavy storm.

* * *

Author's Note:

I'm really sorry about the delay. From now on, I'll try to post on a more regular basis.

For this chapter, and the story in general, I'd like to profusely thank Alex Irvine's novelization of Pacific Rim, from which I shamelessly ripped those technical bits of information like the Drivesuit and the Jaeger stats.

As always, leave your comments and reviews of the chapter and do let me know if I did anything wrong and how I could make it better :)

P.S. Edited the story just a tad, it should probably be easier to read now. Thanks aemx :)

Edit: Did a minor retcon to change Nick's first girlfriend's name to Marian as a nod to the character mentioned in Zootopia: Crime Files :)


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

* * *

In the Gulf of Pawlaska, some distance away from the shore of Ancougarage, Saltchuck, a small fishing trawler, struggled to stay afloat in the torrential storm and the churning waves. A moose and a beaver finished rolling up the fishing net on the front deck. The captain of the vessel, Merrit, an aged woodchuck, approached the pair and said with a slap on both their backs, "Tie that up and go down below." The two nodded quickly and continued their work.

Merrit hurriedly entered the bridge where his first mate, McRotus, a young tundra vole, stood at the helm, peering out into the storm. "How far to the mainland?" Merrit asked as he came over and stood by the vole.

"Eleven miles off Ancougarage, sir", he replied. "But with the waves like this, we won't even make it past the shallows."

Merrit nodded darkly, "No, we won't." A slight tremor in his otherwise stoic voice betrayed his concern.

A sudden ping drew both their attention to the radar screen. Merrit studied the radar image intently. "What about that island, three miles east?"

McRotus peeked at the screen. "No, it's two miles, sir. Wait, one mile… It's getting closer, cap'n." The vole's voice grew tight with awe and fear.

Merrit stared at the screen and then to the speed gauge before looking out into the storm, "We're not going that fast. How the hell can it be getting close to…"

The woodchuck's unfinished question remained on his lips as he spotted the island in the beam of the spotlight on the bow of the trawler. And the black landmass was indeed moving towards them. Suddenly the island stopped it's approach and started rising. And rising. And rising…

Merrit's voice was barely a whisper as realization dawned on him alongside his crew. "Kaiju!"

The Kaiju, Knifehead, rose higher and higher above the waves until it's head was more than a hundred feet above the water. Looming over the comparatively tiny ship, it stretched its four arms and gave a deafening roar. It had two large dominant arms and two slightly smaller secondary arms protruding from its midsection. Each of its arms had three digits

which ended in webbed claws, each big enough to crush Saltchuck like a beer can. The most notable feature of the Kaiju was its long and broad, sharp-ended nose, resembling a blade, with one edge narrowing from its upper jaw to a point and the other defining the top of its skull. Its open mouth was large enough to fit the fishing trawler comfortably, and each of its teeth was as big as a bison. Bright yellow lines ran a pattern across its skin, with the rest of its body being a dark grey lit only by the spotlight from the fishing vessel. An eerie blue alien glow radiated from the Kaiju's eyes and the interior of its mouth.

The gigantic monster growled as it leaned towards the fishing vessel. Merrit yelled, "Hard astern", as he slapped McRotus on the back harshly, almost knocking the vole to the floor. The moose and beaver on the deck scrambled to grab a hold of the ship as it lurched and vibrated dangerously.

Suddenly a loud foghorn was heard from some distance behind the ship, following by two beams of light landing on the eyes of the encroaching Kaiju, halting its approach on the ship.

"What the…", said the moose, as he leaned over the starboard side railing looking towards the astern of the ship. Across the stormy waters, roughly a quarter of a mile behind the ship, stood Foxy Danger, glowing brightly in the dark night like a beacon of hope for the crew of Saltchuck, as it strode towards the Kaiju.

Inside the pilot cabin of Saltchuck, the radio crackled to life with the voice of Nick Wilde coming through. "Foxy Danger, PZDC, here to assist. Hold on to something, we'll get you to safety."

"Looks like the spotlights are working", Finnick said, as he increased the intensity of the two large spotlights situated on the base of the ear-like structure on the head of the fox-shaped Jaeger. They shone into the blue eyes of the Kaiju, making it take a step back and try to shield its eyes from the lights.

"Oh no, you don't. I'm giving it the toot-toot again", Nick said while he blared the loud foghorns used by the Jaeger to warn people of Kaiju threats. Nick loved the horns; he affectionately called them toot-toot. He privately had a theory that they scared the Kaiju, but he didn't really care if they didn't. The horns were loud enough to startle the Kaijus and gave the rangers a momentary edge against them.

Between the spotlights and the foghorn blasts, Knifehead took a step back from the vessel as Foxy Danger reached within arm's length of the ship.

"We're in range. Let them know." Finnick said.

"Attention mammals on the Saltchuck," Nick's voice came through the radio in the pilot cabin of the vessel, which looked miniscule between the two behemoths. "Hold on to your tails."

And with that, Foxy Danger leaned over the ship and reached out with its right paw, sending it inside the water just off the side of the ship. Less than a second later, the entire vessel started rising in the air. The mammals on the deck of the ship stumbled to keep their footing as they realized that the Jaeger was scooping the entire fishing trawler out of the water in the palm of its paw, like a giant toy.

"Alright, ship's secured. Adjust the torque, Nicky." Finnick called out.

Nick reached over and gestured the respective controls on the holographic display surrounding them. "Torque's locked. Heads up, Finn. Incoming."

Finnick looked up alongside Nick, Foxy Danger's own body following their movement, to see Knifehead swiping with one of its gigantic arms.

They both turned the Jaeger back away from the Kaiju, in order to shield the ship and its crew, barely dodging the swipe, which clipped a corner of the Jaeger's shoulder armour, sending a minor tremor through its body at the impact. Missing the swipe, Knifehead stumbled clumsily in the water due to the humongous inertia of its body.

"Listen, Saltchuck. We're gonna put you back in the water now. You fellas gun it the hell away from here and back to the mainland." Nick yelled over the radio while Finnick lowered the ship in the water and gave it a slight shove, propelling the ship across the waves away from the warring titans.

Merrit turned to McRotus, "You heard him. Full speed ahead!"

As the fishing boat fled back towards the coast, Foxy Danger turned to face its opponent. "Showtime, Kiddo", Finnick said.

Knifehead had already recovered from its previous misstep and with a thunderous roar, lunged towards the Jaeger. But the Wilde brothers were ready for it as they delivered a furious right hook on the Kaiju's left jaw. The Kaiju was forced to take a step back from the sheer force of the metal punch. Foxy moved forwards, delivering a downwards left hook on the Kaiju's blade-shaped skull, forcing its head to dip under water.

As Knifehead attempted to rise up again, the two fox pilots raised both their arms above their heads, with the massive Jaeger following suit. The moment Knifehead's head exited the water, Foxy Danger delivered the devastating two-fist smash on the top of its head, pushing the Kaiju's head under the water once again.

Knifehead roared as it surfaced once again, and with a powerful swing of its massive tail propelling it through the water, pounced at the fox robot. Foxy Danger lifted its left arm to block the Kaiju's mouth from landing a strike on its body. The force of the Kaiju's weight shook the two fox pilots violently inside the Conn-Pod, as the shock absorbers strained and sparked to keep them upright and centred in the pilot assembly.

With a pivot on its powerful metallic legs and loud grunts from both pilots, the Jaeger pushed back the alien monster and using its left arm, grabbed hold of its large skull near its right eye and started squeezing hard. Knifehead clutched the robot's clawed arm with its right arm in an attempt to shake it off.

"C'mon Finn, shoot it", Nick said, as he struggled to maintain a grip on the leathery skin of the Kaiju.

"I'm on it, I'm on it," Finnick replied while preparing the Plasmacaster cannon.

The right arm of the Jaeger rearranged itself into a barrel housing with three symmetrical amplifier lens arrays around a circular hole that extended up inside the Jaeger's forearm. Flanges rotated on the wrist and locked the plasma cannon weapon assembly into place.

Electric arcs crackled like lightning around the arrays as the weapon powered up with a brilliant blue glow.

The Kaiju noticed the glowing arm of its adversary and attempted to swat it away using its left arm. But Finnick deftly dodged the swing at the same time the cannon sounded its 'Ready' alert.

The first plasma shot hit Knifehead square in the midsection. The massive Kaiju staggered back and the second shot knocked it further backward. Nick let go of its head as the third shot hit on the charred crater in its torso. The superheated plasma cauterized the wounds it created and burnt the Kaiju's blue blood that splattered in all directions, reducing the chance of the spread of Kaiju Blue. The Kaiju flailed its arms, screaming in pain. The force of the third shot sent Knifehead flying on its back and landing on the water with a huge splash.

The sea water boiled around the cauterized wounds, reacting to the mixture of salt water and the Kaiju's burnt blood. The motions of its arms grew less coordinated and it sank slowly. The last thing to disappear under the water was the bridge of its bladed skull.

"I like this weapon", Nick said with a smirk.

Finnick gave a satisfying grunt and replied, "Me too."

"Ol' Buffalo Butt's probably losing his horns back at LOCCENT. Better fire up the comm and let him know."

"Get ready for an earful", Finnick snorted as he toggled the comm back on.

Immediately, the interior of Foxy Danger's Conn-Pod filled with Clawhauser's worrying voice, "Discharge reading, sir. Plasma cannon in the shallow shelves, eleven miles off the coastal... Wait, sir, comm's back on."

Bogo's furious baritone voice boomed in the Conn-Pod. "Foxy!" he barked. "What the hell is going on?"

"Job's done, Chief." Nick replied. "Lit it up twice, bagged our fifth kill."

"You disobeyed a direct order, rangers!" Bogo was livid.

"Not so, Marshall", came Finnick's short reply as he disengaged the Plasmacaster. The weapon assembly on right arm of the Jaeger rearranged back into its harness inside Foxy Danger's arm.

"Respectfully, sir," Nick elaborated, "we intercepted the Kaiju before it crossed the Miracle Mile, protecting the citizens of Ancougarage and saved everyone on the fishing boat as well."

Bogo growled in frustration. As much of a loose cannon the two fox brothers were, he never could argue with their results. The brothers always skirted the edge, pushing the boundaries while still keeping to the letter of his commands. "Get back to your post," Bogo grunted. "Now!"

"Yes sir", Nick responded as both the Wilde brothers smiled widely; another successful hustle.

Suddenly, the holographic monitors at LOCCENT lit up with new readings and sounded alert tones. Clawhauser quickly turned on his chair and checked the warnings. "Kaiju signature rising!" His voice almost a shriek. "That's thing's still alive, sir."

Bogo slammed his hoof on the comm. "Foxy! We're still getting a signature. That Kaiju is still alive!"

The two brothers looked at each other apprehensively. Nick swiped the LOCCENT feed off the HUD and spawned an area view. He and Finnick scanned the readings as they braced for Knifehead to resurface.

They turned the Jaeger around to check their surroundings but all they could see in the stormy seas was the charred blue blood of the Kaiju, floating on the waves.

Over the comm, Bogo's voice wasn't angry anymore. "Rangers, grab the boat and get out of there, now! You copy? Grab the boat and get out…"

The rest of his voice was lost in the deafening roar coming from their left side. Foxy Danger turned just in time to see the massive form of Knifehead lunging towards them and swiping with its massive left arm. The arm hit the Jaeger's right shoulder, knocking the two foxes around on the straining shock absorbers.

The Kaiju leaped forwards hoping to bite on the Jaeger's head but the two pilots put their arms up, holding the frothing snout of the alien monster back.

"Nicky, your turn", Finnick grunted while he adjusted the power on his right arm, applying more pressure onto the Jaeger's hold on the Kaiju's mouth.

"I got this", Nick said as he powered up the Plasmacaster on the left arm of the Jaeger. The amplifier lens arrays sparked to life and the flanges starting spinning, preparing the plasma shot.

Suddenly, the Kaiju leaned back momentarily, removing Foxy's grip from its face and struck with its powerful right arm on the glowing weapon, following up with a ramming strike with its skull-blade into the shoulder joint of the Jaeger's arm. The serrated exoskeletal structure of the blade allowed it to puncture all the way through the Jaeger, and out the back, severing the left arm and leaving it dangling from the rest of the body of the Jaeger by a few metal rebars and cables.

Courtesy of the neural handshake, both brothers felt as if their own left arms were just ripped from their bodies. Both foxes screamed in incredible pain, their bodies jerking violently from the shock. Nick had it worse as it was his hemisphere that took the blow. His vision tunnelled and he felt the left side of his body going numb, a pathetic yelp left his snout.

The holographic display of the Conn-Pod showed multiple danger alerts and cascading failure alarms sounded as Foxy Danger's liquid-circuit neural pathways were interrupted. The Drivesuit on Nick's left arm started sparking as a feedback from the damage, sending electrical shocks in the red fox's body.

"LOCCENT, we're hit." Finnick informed the Shatterdome, having recovered from the attack. He helplessly stared at his brother's suffering, unable to aid him.

The mammals on board Saltchuck, about half a mile from the titans, gaped back at the carnage as Knifehead pushed Foxy Danger backwards and tried to slice its arm off, at the extremity of which, the plasma cannon was still glowing.

The alert readings glowed on every screen at LOCCENT, startling every mammal in the room. "Left arm's gone cold, sir," Clawhauser struggled with his words. Bogo stared at the holographic readings of the damaged Jaeger, stupefied.

With a mighty roar, Knifehead shook his blade free from the Jaeger, ripping off its left arm entirely. The arm with the still-glowing Plasmacaster splashed on the ocean surface and sank down. Knifehead roared again and pounced on the Jaeger, using his left arm to claw at Foxy's head, leaving deep gashes in the metal armour.

Inside the Conn-Pod, the pilots were shaken violently as every equipment around them sparked at the claw-strikes on the other side of the wall from them. Due to the neural handshake, both foxes experienced the damage on the Jaeger's head as splitting migraines.

Nick panted heavily as he tried to stay on top of the immense pain. His body vibrated from the shock as he attempted to regain some control over his damaged left arm.

Giving the Jaeger no time to recuperate, Knifehead slashed at Foxy's head again, its claws digging deeper and deeper through the thick armour, until finally, they broke through. Inside the Conn-Pod, Nick and Finnick gawked at the giant claws appearing in the ceiling above the smaller fox, while still struggling with the splitting headache thanks to their neural connection with the Jaeger.

Finnick stammered, "The hull! It went through the friggin' hull!"

Nick gasped as he stared at his older brother, the fear visible in his eyes.

Finnick turned to face Nick, the fennec's eyes reflecting the same terror as his little brother. "Nicky, listen to me. You need… yahhh". Finnick's sentence was cut off as his side of the Conn-Pod was violently yanked out along with the entire right side of Foxy Danger's head, with Finnick hanging from it by his Drivesuit assembly.

Nick screamed the loudest he's ever screamed, "NO!" as he saw Knifehead's clawed arm recede into the stormy night, Finnick still dangling from it. Still connected via the Drift, Nick felt his brother's pure unadulterated terror as his own; Finnick screamed as he was dragged under the waves, struggling in vain to detach himself from the mutilated wreck of the right side of the motion rig.

And then it went quiet, as the Drift severed. Nick felt repercussions from the abrupt disconnection of the Drift, sending shockwaves all through the red fox's body.

Freezing rain slashed in through the hole on Foxy's head, drenching the sparking circuits and equipment and causing them to arc anew, sending even more electrical shocks into Nick's body. The Jaeger froze as the neural handshake was broken. The Crisis Command Matrix came online immediately, delivering the entire command and control of Foxy Danger onto Nick's brain. He almost fainted from the tremendous strain of the entire Jaeger, even keeping it upright felt like a jackhammer on his skull.

The right side of the holographic image in the Conn-Pod turned red, to indicate the missing pilot. Nick grunted, trying to move his left arm. But it was no use, his entire left side was numb, a result of the multiple barrage of electrical shocks on his body.

He struggled and contorted his body, leaning as much as he could, to transfer the arm controller from his left arm to his right arm. With a final growl, he grabbed hold of the controller and leaned back on his harness, panting heavily, just in time to see Knifehead lunge again, ramming the Jaeger with its entire body.

The violent strike to the Jaeger sent the motion rig swinging dangerously and the shock absorbers creaking loudly. More warning lights started flashing on the HUD and alarms started sounding. Struggling with all his might, Nick just barely managed to maintain his footing and not let the Jaeger tip over in the water.

Seeing his target still standing, Knifehead grabbed hold of both shoulders of the Jaeger and held it upright while he aimed his skull blade towards the midsection of Foxy, and rammed forwards. The Kaiju's toughened blade penetrated straight through the Jaeger, just barely missing the nuclear vortex turbine.

Nick felt the winds knocked out of him, as he experienced another surge of pain. He felt as if a spear was being thrust through his chest and gasped for breath. He lurched back in the damaged Conn-Pod as the shock absorbers started to fail.

Nick's pain was unfathomable. His whole body now convulsed involuntarily. The last moments of Drift with Finnick played on his mind repeatedly, the overwhelming sense of loss caused his tears to flow unrestrained from his eyes. But overpowering all of that, he found focus in the singular emotion of rage; primal, animalistic rage.

Nick gave a guttural growl and lifted his right arm, and engaged the Plasmacaster on the right arm of Foxy Danger. The plasma cannon started charging once again.

Knifehead attacked again, biting down hard on the hole in the left shoulder of the Jaeger, ripping out huge chunks of metal. Nick felt as if his own flesh was being torn out of his body. He growled again, louder this time, refusing to let the pain win. He rededicated all of Foxy Danger's remaining control systems to the single task of lifting and angling the Jaeger's right arm.

Knifehead assaulted the Jaeger again and again, tearing out larger and larger pieces from Foxy Danger's torso. Knifehead gave a long and triumphant roar and came down for another bite. At that moment, the cannon sounded its 'Ready' alert. Nick roared back in primal fury and thrust his arm forwards, jabbing it in the Kaiju's throat…

And fired the cannon…

In LOCCENT, the holographic image sparked and the two blips on the screen representing the Jaeger and the Kaiju, both disappeared.

"What?" Clawhauser rapidly clicked the controls, attempting to locate the Foxy Danger and Knifehead. "Sir, the second cannon discharge fried the GPS. I'm not getting any signals. No signatures, sir." He said as he anxiously turned to look at Marshall Bogo for orders.

Bogo stood up straight and silently stared at the screen, his mind a maelstrom of thoughts.

 _That was a feint_ , he realized with a feeling of dread. _That monstrous beast tricked two of the best Jaeger pilots in the world! What's more, it went straight for the head. It knew where to attack! How did it know? It just came out of the Breach mere hours ago! When did it figure that out?_

Clawhauser spoke again, his voice barely registering in Bogo's ears. "What do we do now, sir?"

* * *

It was the crack of dawn and a heavy mist covered the land and the sea. Two lynxes, one aged yet still stout and the other a kit, were walking along the snow-covered coast. The older one carried a metal detector while the younger one carried a small shovel.

"I want you to keep your eye on that gauge there", the older lynx told the kit. "Now, you know what I'd like to find?"

The kit shook her head and looked at her grandfather with questioning eyes.

"A whole ship. That's what I'd like to find. Wait, wait!" The metal detector had started beeping loudly.

The two lynxes moved haphazardly trying to pinpoint the location of the metal. "Right there, right there. Dig!" instructed the old lynx.

Using her shovel, the kit quickly started digging. After just three scoops, the shovel hit something. She leaned down and picked up the metal in question.

"Hey, what is it?" asked her grandfather, his eyesight not as good as it once was.

"It's just an old toy", the little one said, handing the item over.

The older lynx looked at the toy robot with inquisitive eyes while the kit pouted. "We never find anything cool."

Suddenly, the metal detector started beeping again. "Listen", said the grandfather and moved the detector around for the best signal. The kit's ears flicked upright. She thought she heard a low booming sound.

The older lynx found the strongest signal direction, and held the metal detector horizontal, aimed outward facing the ocean. The kit heard the sounds getting closer. "Grandpa, do you hear that?"

As soons as she spoke, the older lynx's ears flicked upright as well. The low intermittent booming sounds were coming closer.

And closer…

Until a gigantic shadowy shape appeared through the mist, coming out of the ocean with slow and heavy steps.

"Oh, unicorn in heaven!" muttered the older lynx. The kit's jaw hung open at the sight.

The mangled body of Foxy Danger, with a gaping hole where its left arm used to be, came out of the mist and took another trembling step towards inland. Inside the damaged Conn-Pod in the Jaeger's half-open head, Nick was assaulted by the freezing wind. He had never felt cold like this before. He moved Foxy step by step, his brain was almost on autopilot.

Finnick wasn't there next to him. _Finnick was gone!_

Nick had nothing left. He couldn't feel his left arm because it had been cut off. _No, that was Foxy Danger's arm!_

The Jaeger's joints squealed and started to freeze up from the loss of lubricant. The liquid-circuit neural architecture of the Drivesuit was misfiring like crazy. Nick's head hurt so much he honestly couldn't tell if he could still feel the pain. All he could hear was tinnitus. He couldn't feel parts of his mind and half his memory was blank. There was a burning sensation on his left chest but he knew if he looked down to check it, he would lose control of Foxy and tip over.

Foxy Danger stepped onto dry land and then stumbled. The massive Jaeger dropped to its knees and fell forward. Nick barely managed to get his right arm up to block the fall. But all he succeeded in doing was slow his descent. The Jaeger's face landed on its side on the snow-covered beach with a tremor. Nick disengaged from the motion rig and fell onto the floor. He tried to crawl out of the wreckage but his shaking feeble paws failed him and he blacked out.

The two lynxes ran for the Jaeger's head. They had seen on TV that the pilots' control room was in the robot's head. "Stay here," the older lynx told his granddaughter while he ran ahead, dropping the metal detector on the ground.

As he got close, he saw a red fox in a broken and bloodstained white polymer suit crawling out of the gaping hole on the side of the Jaeger's head. The fox stood up on shaky legs and stared blankly all around him. The old lynx gave a start at seeing the fox's eyes; the once-bright green eyes were smeared with blood and tears and looked disconsolate in anguish.

"Mister?" the lynx asked.

When Nick was conscious again, he was standing on the sand. He turned back and saw the lying body of Foxy Danger. How did he get out onto the beach? He was just inside the Conn-Pod.

 _Climbed out._ Nick realized that he'd climbed out through the shattered viewport. _Out the same hole Finnick had disappeared through._

"Hey, can I help?" The muffled question sounded from his left. He turned to see a puma, _no wait, a lynx,_ with aging fur looking at him.

Cold stung Nick's skin. He finally looked down to that burning sensation on his chest and saw that half the Drivesuit on his left arm was ripped to shreds, exposing his red fur. Through that fur were four deep gashes with dried up blood. He looked down at the rest of his body and saw dried bloodstains on the suit near his waist, slowly oozing from cracks in the Drivesuit. He suddenly realized that blood was coagulating under his suit and his fur was clumped in places with the dried-up blood.

Nick tried to raise his right arm, his left arm dangling limply, to grab hold of the seeping blood. He whispered, "Finn!"

He stared up at the sky and took erratic steps until he fell on his knees. The lynx ran close to hold him but he couldn't find a grip on Nick's Drivesuit. The red fox fell flat on his back, panting slowly, a weak whine starting to come out of his throat.

The older lynx shouted at his granddaughter, "Run! Get help, fast!" The kit turned and started running.

The lynx dropped to his knees and leaned over the panting fox. "Hey, listen. It's gonna be all right, you hear?

There was blood in Nick's eyes and a hole the shape of his brother in his soul.

"Finnick!" he gasped, before he blacked out again.

* * *

Author's Note:

And here it is. Yes, yes, you all saw it coming when you saw who was Finnick in Chapter 1. I hope I managed to do the battle and carnage semi-justice.

This time I had aemx give it a proofreading before posting so there shouldn't be too much revisions in the future like Chapter 1. Thanks dude :)

As always, leave your comments and reviews of the chapter and do let me know if I did anything wrong and how I could make it better :)

Update: Made a minor edit near the end to include Nick's eye colour.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

* * *

5 November, 2027 - Kaiju War, Year 14  
Ancougarage Shatterdome, Pawlaska, ZSA

Bogo Pentecost felt besieged on all sides. Bigger and stronger Category 4 Kaijus were coming out of the Breach now. And slowly but surely, Jaegers were falling. The Jaeger Graveyard at Oblivilion Bay near San Furcisco was acquiring new occupants at an ominous rate. And now, this…

He stood on the command platform of the Ancougarage LOCCENT, looking at a bank of monitors, each displaying the face of a member of the Pan-Zoocific Breach Working Group, the committee under the Zoonited Nations that oversaw Kaiju Defense and Security. From their expressions, Bogo knew how the conversation would go and that he wasn't going to like it. He'd seen the press release, and more importantly, he'd been part of the Group's internal conversations for the past several months. Bogo was dealing with frightened mammals and frightened mammals always did one of two things: fight or flee. Since these frightened mammals were bureaucrats, they were just about guaranteed not to fight.

But Bogo Pentecost was not a bureaucrat. He was a decorated Marshall and Commanding Officer of a Shatterdome. He had decades of service under his belt as a ranger and a former Jaeger pilot. He had killed multiple Kaijus and had the scars to show for it, both inside and out. If he was going to go down, he was going down fighting.

"The Kaijus are learning our defences. They're adapting. Evolving. And we are losing Jaegers faster than we can build them." The Working Group's designated speaker, Leodore Lionheart, the lion representative from ZSA, spoke in a somber tone. "And cities. Pacapulco, San Furcisco, Vladivosqueak, Braysbane… This is no longer a battle or a strategy. It's a slow, painful surrender. And we can't surrender."

Each member of the Working Group gazed at the cape buffalo from their individual monitors, their faces carefully designed masks of professional, diplomatic regret. Around Bogo, the LOCCENT was silent. They had no more funding to keep it working. The bureaucrats were fleeing and the first thing they always took on their way out was the money.

Standing a little behind Bogo was Benjamin Clawhauser, in his standard bluish-grey shirt that bulged dangerously from under his pants at his flabby waist. The chubby cheetah always wore his heart on his sleeves and from hearing the Working Group's decision, his normally cheerful face was replaced by a sullen expression and his long tail almost flattened on the ground in sadness.

Alongside him stood one of Bogo's veteran rangers, Major Larry Wolfard. The middle-aged timberwolf had served under Bogo from before the Kaiju War had started. He was presently stationed at the Sydneigh Shatterdome with his son. The wolf's eyes hardened at hearing Lionheart's words. If Bogo wasn't present, he had half a mind to tell the Working Group exactly what he felt.

"Category 4 Kaijus are now coming through the Breach." The sheep representative of the Eweropean Union, Dawn Bellwether, spoke up. "The frequency of the attacks has increased. I think even you can see Marshall, that the Jaegers are no longer the most viable line of defense."

"I am aware", Bogo began roughly, then stopped himself. He restarted, "Those are my rangers that die every time a Jaeger falls. Which is why I'm asking you for one last chance."

"Excuse me, Marshall", one of the representatives piped up.

Bogo continued his plea, ignoring the interruption. "One final assault, with everything we've got."

"Marshall Pentecost," the Roostralian representative, a red kangaroo named Rufus Supial, loudly cut in. "We've been through this in our last meeting. The simple fact is that the Breach is impenetrable."

Bogo's nostrils flared in frustration. "With our current assets perhaps," he began again. "But just as the Kaijus have evolved, we are evolving as well. We have the Mark 5.2 Jaeger through the design phase and are ready for prototyping. It's ready to go as soon as the funding is released."

"That just isn't on the table, I'm afraid", Supial said with a tone of finality.

Bogo felt his last glimmer of hope disappear. The Mark 5.2 was supposed to be constructed in Roostralia, at the same factory in that produced the singular Mark 5. And the country's own representative wasn't going to stand up for it! But they needed it. The Kaijus were getting bigger and stronger. The Jaegers needed to match them, if not exceed them. Only then they could make any viable progress with attacking the Breach.

"My Kaiju Science researchers have made enormous strides toward understanding the physics of the Breach." Bogo refused to back down. "You have seen their report. The more we understand about the Breach, the closer we get to being able to destroy it. But only if we have the combat assets to take the fight to the Kaiju."

He couldn't give up now. Not after so many had died. "Nothing is impenetrable," he continued. "We just have yet to discover the method that will penetrate the Breach. And that is why our mission has grown even more critical."

"The Group feels otherwise, Marshall," said the representative from Pawnama, a giant anteater named Mirmy Pilosa. She continued, "The Jaeger Program is dead. On the other paw, the Wall of Life Program is a promising option."

Bogo wasn't surprised the anteater had spoken up. Her country had just received a windfall; billions of bucks to construct a barrier to the Zoocific entrance of the Pawnama Canal. The Kaiju had not found the canal yet, but they had hit Guanomala and Equusador. It was only a matter of time. Bogo suspected that the money for the Canal Barrier Project had come straight out of the final-phase prototype funding for the Mark 5.2 Jaeger. The very thought made him furious.

Picking right up as if the whole thing had been rehearsed, which Bogo didn't doubt it had, Lionheart sat up straight and delivered the curtain call. "Marshall, the world appreciates all that you and your mammals have done. But it's over. The countries of the Pan-Zoocific Beach Working Group are not going to expend their remaining military forces and assets on futile attacks when they could be protecting their people. And those people feel safer behind a wall."

 _The wall!_ Bogo gave a low growl, inaudible through the microphone, but the cheetah and the wolf standing behind him heard it clearly. _The damned wall! Mammalkind's monument to fear; to flight, instead of fight._

"But they're not safer," he said. "My research team says the walls won't hold. The frequency of attacks are not going to saturate as we had originally thought, but they'll continue to rise further and further."

"We've intensified the Wall of Life Program and are in the process of herding citizens and supplies to the safe zones, three hundred miles inland from the Zoocific coastline," said Bellwether. "That is the prudent course, Marshall. And that is the course we will take."

 _Safe zones that only the rich and the powerful can buy their way into? What about the rest?_ The sentence played through Bogo's mind in a swell of anger, his nostrils flaring involuntarily. But he controlled himself. The last time he let anger take control of him, he lost one of the finest rangers he's ever known. He would not let his anger take over now. _Take the high road,_ he told himself.

He calmed his breathing and spoke, choosing his words carefully. "Fear and walls won't save anyone. You can huddle inside bunkers with hope as a pillow, but it won't work. When the last Jaeger falls and the Kaijus take to the shores, they will not stop at the wall. They'll keep coming at it until they break through. Then there will no longer be any safe zones. Nothing will be left to stop them. Mammalkind will fall!"

"Marshall Bogo Pentecost," Lionheart said, his tone final, "you are hereby authorized by the Pan-Zoocific Breach Working Group to take all remaining Jaegers to the last battle station, Hog Kong, the nearest Shatterdome to the Breach. We're prepared to fund you for the next eighteen months while the remaining Shatterdomes are decommissioned. After that, the Zoonited Nations will no longer be supporting the Jaeger Program."

"You have you answer, Marshall," added Bellwether.

"You are free to continue it privately, of course," Lionheart resumed. "And I'm sure a mammal of your determination will find a way to keep Jaegers in the field. We will welcome their interventions when and if more Kaiju appear. However, this body has decided that the best interests of all mammals are served by acknowledging that our finite resources are more effectively applied to a sure defence than a reckless offence. Good luck to you, Marshall."

The monitors went dark one by one.

Bogo sighed deeply and stepped down from the command platform. That was that. The leaders of the world have chosen to flee.

"So that's it?" Clawhauser asked in a quivering voice. "It's over?" The cheetah looked to be on the verge of tears. He stared between Bogo and Wolfard in despair.

Bogo took a moment to gather himself. He removed a pill box from his uniform pocket and swallowed one of the tablets.

"Suits and ties, and flashy smiles," Wolfard said, the snarl in his voice echoing in the quiet room. "That's all they are, Bogo."

Bogo shot him a look. Wolfard was right, but Bogo believed in respecting authority. And he would've told the timberwolf just that, had the duly constituted authorities not proven themselves unable to govern.

"We don't need 'em," Bogo said, his voice was as cold as ice and as guttural as a growl.

He was free to continue the program, the Working Group had said, as long as he could find a way to keep it alive.

 _Well, there might be such a way._ It was distasteful, perhaps.

But this was war...

* * *

Author's Note:

In my defence, I did try to maintain a weekly schedule but Ye Olde Real Life™ had other plans. Might be late on next chapter a bit as well.

Regarding the chapter, it's a small one this time featuring a very small scene. But there's quite a lot of punny names to make up for the shortness :P

As always, thank you very much for your interest in my story. Leave your comments and reviews of the chapter and do let me know if I did anything wrong and how I could make it better :)


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

* * *

1 March, 2030 - Kaiju War, Year 17  
"Wall of Life" Construction Site, Prince Roopert, Battish Columbia, Canida

The sign on the billboard read:

Zoocific Coastline Anti-Kaiju Wall  
Keeping the Coast SAFE, Defending your Future  
Undertaken by Zoocific Perimeter Project Administration  
300 mile section completed by…

The date that was originally written at the end of the last line had been long-covered with the word 'NEVER' in red paint.

Nick Wilde wanted to meet the mammal who wrote that word there, and offer them a glass of beer. He didn't believe the promise of the wall for a second.

The wall in question stretched along the Zoocific coastline in either sides of the billboard as far as the eye could see. It was more than four hundred feet tall in most places and still under heavy construction. Mammals of all shapes and sizes milled about the construction site carrying all sorts of equipments and in various construction vehicles. Nick himself was carrying a standard Anti-Kaiju Wall Worker's Backpack, specialized for medium-sized mammals. His job specification was a welder, so the backpack had a fuel tank at the bottom with a welding torch attached to the side. The backpack also had a winch setup on its top side, for use in ascending and descending along the structural beams of the wall.

He entered the hard hat area and came to the briefing building, where the workers received their work assignments, material requisition, danger compensation allocation, etc. As Nick came to wait alongside the other medium-sized mammals in their designated space, a familiar voice greeted him.

"Hey Nick. Good morning." The voice belonged to Gideon Grey, another red fox. Gideon was a very friendly mammal who used to own a bakery shop in Beaverton, ZSA, before the failing economy put him out of business two years ago. The portly fox decided to join as a worker in the Anti-Kaiju Wall and was transferred around various construction sites until he met Nick in Prince Roopert about six months ago.

Nick had always been tight-lipped about his former profession in the PZDC, but Gideon turned out to be a huge fan of Jaegers and Jaeger pilots and recognized him immediately, accidentally breaking his anonymity.

The Jaeger Program had been receiving strong criticisms ever since its establishment. But after the discontinuation of the program by the Zoonited Nations, these objections increased hundredfold and Jaeger pilots went from being treated as rock stars to being treated worse than garbage on the streets.

Following Gideon's little slip, Nick has been taunted, mocked, ostracized and ridiculed by many of his fellow workers. Nick was furious at the pudgy fox for weeks. But Gideon was so apologetic about it that Nick eventually forgave him.

"Morning, Gid," Nick said. He may not have been angry at the other fox any more, but Gideon was a bit too enthusiastic about Jaegers and the part of his life that he left behind years ago. So, Nick generally tried to avoid conversations with him.

Luckily, the voice of the morning shift foremammal, a disagreeable hornless ram by the name of Doug Ramses, called for their attention. On most mornings, Nick tuned out the ram, but this morning, Doug varied his schtick.

"Now, I got good news and I got bad news, fellas," he said. "Which one you wanna hear first?"

"Bad news?" queried Gideon, raising his arm slightly.

"Bad news, eh?" Doug gave a short sigh. "Three mammals died yesterday; working the top of the wall."

Murmurs rose immediately among the workers. Doug let the news sink in for a while, as he always did when he announced fatalities. It wasn't unusual; they were building the wall fast and very few complained about workplace safety with the fate of all mammalkind on the line.

"Well, golly!" Gideon exclaimed. "What's the good news?"

"The good news is," Doug said as he held up three red ration cards, fanned out in one hoof like he was about to do a card trick, "I got three new job openings. Top of the wall."

Gideon gulped. Nick just stared blankly as he did to most things nowadays. Nothing really phased a person any more after they've gone paw to paw with five Kaijus and lived.

"Okay, who wants to work? Who wants to eat?" Doug asked the mumbling crowd.

A raccoon and a porcupine took two of the cards immediately but there didn't appear to be much interest in the third one. Duty on top of the wall was the most dangerous work environment in the wall construction. They were mostly left to small mammals while large mammals were restricted to near ground level work involving heavy lifting. For medium mammals though, all work-spaces were fair game, and top of the wall had the best danger compensation pay. But a dead mammal didn't eat.

"No takers?" Doug called out.

Gideon looked at Nick with questioning eyes. Nick gave a shrug. He had done top of the wall work before. It was a dangerous job but he at least got some peace and privacy, both of which were unheard of in the workers' dorms. His svelte physique also provided a slight advantage.

"Here. I'll take it," Nick said, stepping forward.

Doug turned around and held out the card before he registered who had spoken. "Is that right, Dangerfox? You sure you won't drop from the top?" He chuckled. "There's no giant robot to break your fall this time."

Nick's hackles rose inside his coveralls. Doug had been the biggest thorn in his side ever since word got out that he used to be a Jaeger pilot. While the other mammals gave up the taunts after a few weeks, seeing that they didn't phase the fox, the obnoxious ram never stopped deriding him at every opportunity.

"I'm comfortable with heights," Nick said evenly, calming his hackles.

"That so?" Doug huffed as he let Nick take the card. "Well then, shut up and make sure you don't swan dive. I got nobody left to mop up a fox pancake. Comprende?"

Nick took the card with a blank expression and followed the rest of the up-top crew to the elevator. He could feel Doug glaring at his back as he walked away.

* * *

Legs hanging on both sides of a horizontal I-beam fifty feet above the framed part of the wall and more than seven times that distance from the ground, Nick welded the last angle brace of a vertical beam attached to the one he was sitting on. He finished welding the piece and lifted the safety visor on his helmet, waiting for the brace to cool so he could have a better look. Satisfied with the result, he whistled loudly and gave a thumbs up to the capybara overseer who stood at the up-top materials staging area, almost a hundred feet below him. The rodent looked up, using a binocular to observe Nick's weldwork and returned a thumbs up.

Nick carefully stood up on the beam he was sitting on and looked south. He saw the same scene all the way to the horizon; mammals working on the wall, different parts of it in various stages of completion, depending on terrain and crew availability.

He turned north and saw the same sight, as far as his eyes could see. The wall stretched northwards into Pawlaska and then continued along the coast to Ancougarage. The wall then connected to the Bearring Strait Barrier which bordered the Northern Zoocific Ocean. It was built in order to prevent Kaijus from entering the arctic waters and then reaching the Animalantic Ocean.

Nick had his winch cable tied around the beam he sat on, acting as an impromptu safety harness. He unclipped the cable and carefully clipped it around the newly connected vertical beam and latched it back to his backpack. He held onto the sides of the vertical I-beam with his gloved paws and carefully slid down along the beam. Landing on the materials staging area below, he unhooked the cable and rolled it back inside his backpack.

He turned around to find Gideon trimming the edge of a beam while talking with a ferret in a crane next to him. The stout fox had his back turned towards Nick but the ferret saw him and gestured to Gideon, who turned with a wide smile appearing in his face.

"Hey Nick, over here," he called.

Nick sighed. _No getting out of it this time_ , he thought as he walked over.

"Hey Gid, who's your friend?" Nick asked with as much of an even voice he could manage.

"This here's Travis," Gideon introduced. "We used ta' know each other back in school. He was transferred here to Prince Roopert this morning."

"Nice to meet you," Travis said. "Giddy told me that you used to pilot that fox Jaeger up north?"

Nick nodded. He was somewhat relieved that Travis didn't seem like the type to mock him for being a Jaeger pilot. But he did seem like the inquisitive type, which usually meant facing a lot of uncomfortable questions.

Nick took a step away from the pair, heading to sit on the I-beam next to Gideon's.

"Me an' Giddy, we were both really into Jaegers in our teens," Travis continued. "We used to draw all sorts of mammals as Jaegers when we were bored in class."

Nick nodded as he sat down and prepared his welding torch.

"So, how'd you end up in a hole like this?" Travis asked the question Nick had been dreading.

He looked over at the ferret and said what he had told Gideon months before, "I love the hours. And the dental plan is a pretty nice bonus."

Travis stared back dumbfounded.

Nick flipped down his safety visor and started trimming the sides of the beam he sat on. He hoped he wouldn't be able to hear any more uncomfortable questions over the sound of the welding torch.

Gideon shook his head and said to his old friend, "Don't worry, Trav. He'll warm up to you."

* * *

The dining area was a portion of the Anti-Kaiju Wall at ground level with size-designated ration distributors, where the workers ate bad food, drank cheap beer and watched the world slowly come to an end on three TV screens in three corners of the ceiling. Nick's food had been slightly less terrible than normal because of the red ration card and he even managed to haggle some weeks-old blueberry muffins from the brown bear that distributed the somewhat higher quality foodstuffs to the managers.

Nick finished his lunch break, readjusted his hard hat and was heading out of the dining area to pick up his backpack when his ears flicked up as he heard the word 'Kaiju' coming from the television nearest to him. He meandered through the other mammals to get a better look at the TV, which showed a wallaroo newscaster speaking in a thick Roostralian accent. "I am here in Sydneigh, where earlier today yet another Kaiju attack took place. The enormous Category 4 Kaiju, codename Mutavore, broke through the coastal wall in less than an hour!"

The image of the reporter was replaced by a shaky cellphone footage of the event, showing the crescent-shaped bony head of the Kaiju protruding through the thick wall built around the perimeter of the bay of Sydneigh. Aircrafts of the Roostralian military fired missiles at the towering Kaiju but it simply ignored them and tore further and further through the wall.

The voices of the other mammals in the room started to quieten as they turned one-by-one to gape at the image on the TV screens, their eyes unbelieving.

The giant monster fully broke through the wall in minutes and lumbered towards the city through the water of the bay. It passed by the Sydneigh Opera House, one of its large claws grazing an edge of the iconic building and causing the ceiling at that corner to collapse.

Murmurs of contention rose all around Nick as he kept his eyes glued to the screen, his ears lowering. He always knew the walls would be useless at stopping the Kaijus but to see it proven true so vividly was certainly a shock to the fox.

"The Wall of Life had been deemed unbreachable by its designers…" The reporter's voice was cut off by a moose yelling from the other side of the room. "Why the hell are we even building this thing?" Many of the workers around the stag agreed heatedly. The atmosphere of the room was growing tense.

"That… that thing…" said a familiar voice next to Nick. He looked over and saw Gideon and Travis gawking at the screen. Gideon continued shakily, "It… it went through the wall like it was... nothing!"

The newscaster kept talking. "Ironically, it was the recently decommissioned Jaeger Howler Eureka, piloted by Major Larry Wolfard and his son Gary Wolfard, that finally took the beast down."

At the mention of the pilots, service portraits of the Wolfards flashed across the screen, quickly replaced by a helicopter shot of the canine-shaped Jaeger Howler Eureka fighting with Mutavore in downtown Sydneigh.

Nick remembered when he had fought alongside Larry Wolfard; a three Jaeger deployment with a Category 4 Kaiju in Bunnila. That was Foxy Danger's last engagement before Knifehead. Nick felt a pang of despair at remembering his fight with Knifehead and his brother's fate. Before he could dwell too much on it, his thoughts were thankfully distracted by the ongoing fight on the TV screen.

The camera angle had changed to show the battle from the roof of a skyscraper. Several mammals tried to take pictures on their cellphones as Howler Eureka rushed by the building. The Jaeger grabbed the sickle-shaped head of Mutavore and delivered a mean right hook, quickly following up with a left hook. Without giving the Kaiju any time to recover, the Mark 5 Jaeger gripped its head again and threw it heavily against one of the evacuated skyscrapers. The impact with the giant beast caused fractures to appear in the tall building and the tremor of the impact threw the various mammals on the roof off-balance.

As the Kaiju attempted to regain its footing, the camera showed Howler Eureka's chestplate sliding open, revealing its six-barreled Anti-Kaiju Missile Launcher. The Jaeger fired all six missiles, one after another, and all of them landed on target, pummelling the lumbering Kaiju. The missiles dug into its carapace and detonated under its skin. With each strike, Mutavore swayed further and further back, screeching in pain.

The camera angle changed again, this time from the street a few blocks away from the Kaiju. It showed that as the last two missiles hit, the monster slumped and keeled over on its side. The giant beast came down hard, crushing an entire row of smaller buildings and shops. Its bony head landed heavily on a large truck, squashing it into scraps. The cameramammal was knocked on their back from the shockwave of the crashing behemoth.

Before the concrete dust and smoke obscured the monster's body, the dying Kaiju's blue blood was seen leaking out of its mouth, creating smoke from sizzling with the asphalt and concrete of the street.

The feed changed back to the overhead helicopter footage, displaying just how massive the Kaiju was. Its immense carcass lay stretched out across three city blocks. Between it and the water of the bay was nothing but rubble and fire. The sound of sirens were loud as the screen changed to show evacuation efforts to clear the civilians from the area, in order to prevent the spread of Kaiju Blue.

The arguments in the room were heating up. More and more mammals were quarrelling about whether the wall was worth building. Nick even heard some of the smaller mammals talking about going on strike.

Nick turned his attention back to the screen and saw that it was now showing a quoll reporter interviewing Larry and Gary Wolfard, still in their grey Drivesuits. Major Larry Wolfard looked exactly how Nick remembered him — rugged, straightforward, no-nonsense. The aging timberwolf was the kind of mammal whose every motion and look said, 'get to the point'.

Gary was talking to the reporter. "Look, they decommissioned the Jaeger program because of mediocre pilots. It's that simple." He turned to face the camera directly and said with a smirk, "That's Howler Eureka's tenth kill to date. It's a new record."

Nick had never seen Gary before but it was obvious to him that the younger wolf didn't inherit his father's restraint.

"And you're still going to Hog Kong, even after an attack like this?" the quoll asked.

Gary replied, "Well, orders are orders. What else am I supposed to do?"

"Hear that, Dangerfox?" a familiar grating voice sounded from behind. Nick turned to find Doug staring at him with a nasty grin. "He said mediocre pilots. I think he was talking about you, Scruffy."

Nick tried his best to tune out the inimical ram and walked over to the baggage counter to collect his backpack.

"Oh look, he walks away with his bushy tail between his legs," Doug continued. "That's all you've ever been good for; ain't it, fox?"

Nick refused to let himself be baited into an argument with the hateful ram. It would only lead to a demotion or worse, unemployment. He walked away with his backpack, letting the voices of discontent towards the wall from the other mammals drown out the ram's words.

He stepped outside of the dining area, dragging his backpack beside him, and looked up at the wall with a melancholic expression.

They called it the Wall of Life! Right now, Nick felt as if he was looking at the coffin of the mammalian civilization. And he was helping to build it!

He shook himself alert. The world may be dying, but he still had a job to do. He lifted the backpack on his back and headed towards the elevator going to the top of the wall for his afternoon shift.

* * *

Author's Note:

And here's Chapter 4. It's slightly larger than the previous one but not by much. It also includes the last battle scene you'll see for quite a while. So better stock up on your Jaeger vs Kaiju fix now while it's still hot.

To keep the readers interested, here's a little teaser for the next chapter; it will include a significant deviation from the plot progression of Pacific Rim. Not by much in the long run, admittedly. But it does change the dynamics slightly. And that is all I'll say on the matter ;)

As always, thank you very much for your interest in this story. Leave your comments and reviews and feel free to let me know if I made any mistakes and do share any advice you might have :)

Update: Added some rationale behind Doug's hatred towards Nick. Also, Zootopia won Oscars BLARGLARBLE!


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

* * *

The horn indicating the end of the afternoon shift sounded at 6 o'clock. The sun had already set and the twilight sky was a dusty greyish blue slowly turning dark. Nick came out of the elevator, sans backpack, and started his way towards the workers' dorms when he saw a helicopter touching down on the helipad at the side of the briefing building, roughly a hundred meters from the road where he stood. Nick recognized it as a Sikorsky Sea Stallion, a heavy-duty transport helicopter used by the ZSA and Canidan military. Despite his excellent night vision, the dust blown up by the helicopter prevented Nick from seeing any insignia on it.

He wouldn't have given it a second thought before turning back towards the dorms were it not for the mammal that emerged from the chopper; a female grey rabbit with bright purple eyes wearing some kind of uniform under a topcoat for the cold, both navy blue in colour.

The doe, who appeared to be a fair bit younger than him, looked around while two sitka deer and two red wolves in military uniforms, wielding firearms, emerged from inside the chopper and stood guard on both sides of the rabbit in a protective detail. With the dust having now subsided, Nick could see the insignia of the Canidan military on the aircraft.

The night shift foremammal, a zebra, approached the chopper from inside the briefing building, saying something to the rabbit who turned to face him. Suddenly, one of the wolf guards made eye contact with Nick, surprising the red fox, and leaned down to speak to the rabbit while pointing at him with one paw. The rabbit looked up and stared at Nick for a few seconds. She then nodded back to the wolf and started walking towards Nick with large determined steps, completely ignoring the foremammal. The two wolves closely followed her while the two deer guards went to talk to the baffled zebra.

Nick was flabbergasted. He was at a complete loss as to who this bunny was or why she was walking towards him so steadfastly. Before he could think of what the military could want from him, the bunny and her entourage were already in front of him.

The doe studied him with inquisitive eyes, giving him a calculating once-over. Under her scrutinizing gaze, Nick suddenly felt very self-conscious. His disheveled and grimy worker's clothing contrasted sharply with the pristine attire of the doe and her guards.

 _Helluva first impression there, Wilde_ , he thought to himself.

After a few seconds of tense silence from both parties, the bunny asked, "Mr. Nicholas Wilde?"

"Yes?" Nick replied cautiously.

"My name is Judy Hopps. May I have a word in private?"

"What's this all about?" Nick finally managed to recover from his surprise.

"Please, Mr. Wilde. I'll explain everything but not out here."

Nick stared at the bunny for a few seconds, trying to gauge her. Those purple eyes had an uncanny coldness to them that unnerved the fox. Nick could tell that she was here against her own volition. He quickly glanced at the watch on one of the guard wolf's arm, checking the time, before looking back at Judy again.

"Alright. This way. Watch your step," he said as he turned back towards the wall construction site. The way to the dorms were crammed with mammals during the transition of a shift. So the best place for getting some privacy at this time of day was some of the quieter places in the construction site.

Nick guided the three mammals following him to one of the foundation sections of the wall. There were cement mixers littered all around, with a few mammals still working on them, slowly pouring the concrete. The entire place would eventually be completely filled in with concrete to provide the foundation for the full weight of the completed wall.

Nick passed by a giant metal turbine and sat down at a previously-poured concrete section. He said to the doe, "Step into my office, Hopps. This is about as private as you can get around here."

Judy looked around. She could still see some mammals working in the distance but no one was in hearing range. The rabbit doe turned to her guards and instructed them to wait some distance away from the two of them. The pair of wolves nodded and stepped away from them.

She turned to face her quarry and opened her mouth to say something but the giant rusted turbine in her vision caught her interest. "Is that a turbine from a plutonic furnace?" she asked.

Nick smirked at seeing the genuine look of astonishment appear in the doe's eyes. "You know your Jaeger-tech, I see. Yep, that pile of scrap once used to be the primary turbine of a third generation plutonic furnace. There used to be a Jaeger factory right here in Prince Roopert back in the day."

Judy nodded. "I remember reading about that. If memory serves, this factory only made two Mark 1 Jaegers, Horizon Hippo and Growler Yukon; before starting on the Mark 2 line, which replaced the plutonic furnace with the iso-thor reaction chamber."

"Yeah, well, this is what they do to them now." Nick's tone grew cold. "Melt them down for pins and girders and feed them to the wall. I've probably welded parts of a few old Jaegers in there myself."

Judy's ears drooped on her back. She said quietly, "Well, I guess they're still helping."

The sudden change in the doe's tone caused Nick to refocus on her face. The coldness from earlier was gone, replaced by a lugubrious expression.

"I suppose." He shrugged. "However, I doubt you came all the way here in a military chopper to talk about the good ol' days."

"Right." Judy stood up in attention, her demeanor becoming even. She fished inside her coat pocket and brought forward a badge of the PZDC. "I come on behalf of the Pan Zoocific Defence Corps to offer you the position of a Jaeger pilot."

Nick's ears flicked straight and eyes opened fully, the day's exertion having vanished at the doe's words. "What?!" he asked, incredulously.

Judy continued, "For the past two years, the PZDC has been reconstructing a Mark 3 Jaeger. And now that the project is complete, we are in need of a pilot."

Nick couldn't believe what he was hearing. After he quit the PZDC, someone showing up seven years later at his doorstep in Nowheresville, Canida, and offering him his old job back wasn't something he imagined in his wildest cheap-beer-induced hallucinations. And yet, here was a feisty young rabbit standing in attention in front of him, brandishing the unmistakable badge of the PZDC, and presenting him just that. Nick would've keeled over in laughter had he not been stunned silent.

Judy looked at the dazed expression on the fox's face with slight confusion of her own. "It took me a while to find you," she said, some of the coldness from earlier returning to her voice as she pocketed the badge. "You've been all around the Zoocific coastline; Fanghai, Bearring Barrier, Otter Rock…"

The shift in the doe's vocal tone roused Nick from his stupor. "A mammal in my position travels with the wall, chasing shifts to make a living," he replied as he stood up. "So, you want me to return to my old job at the PZDC?"

Judy nodded. "That's correct."

"It's been almost seven years since I left. I'm guessing I wasn't the first choice," Nick said evenly, his eyes peeled on the doe's face.

Whether it was from paranoia as a result of living on the streets for so long or the bunny's generally unfriendly tone or just sheer disbelief at the sudden change in his fortune or a combination of all three, Nick couldn't help but feel that there was more at play here; that the doe was hiding something from him.

Judy's posture stiffened involuntarily at the question before she willed her body to relax. She replied, failing to keep a hint of bitterness from her voice, "You are the first choice."

Nick curiously observed the change in the doe's mien. She didn't say it in so much words but her icy attitude all but spelt it out to him. She wasn't lying, but if it were up to her, Nick certainly wouldn't have been the first choice. Outwardly, he asked, "Is that so?"

"All the other Mark 3 pilots are dead," Judy stated as a matter of fact.

 _I bet they are_ , thought Nick. Images of Finnick dangling from the debris of Foxy Danger before being yanked out into the storm flashed through his mind. He heard his brother's voice, screaming in terror, before the neural handshake was broken. _I can't! Not again!_

He had no idea what was this bunny's problem with him but that didn't matter. He couldn't return to his old job. It was a door that closed on him a long time ago. Nick shook his head, trying to stifle the painful memories.

"Look, Hopps," he said with a hint of sorrow. "I'm not a pilot any more. I can't have anyone in my head again. I'm done!"

Judy's nose started twitching. The mournful tone of the fox caught her unaware. This was entirely the opposite of how she had imagined the conversation to proceed.

Nick continued, "I was still connected to my brother when he died. I can't go through that again. Thanks for the offer though."

He gave a short wave and started walking back outside, sidestepping the surprised bunny.

"Wait, Mr. Wilde," Judy called out, surprising herself.

Nick stopped and turned to face her.

Judy found herself at a loss for words. The former ranger refusing her offer to return to the PZDC was something she'd originally hoped for when she was sent on this errand. But to hear a mammal sound so defeated, she couldn't let him just walk away.

"I'm not sure if you've seen the news," Judy began. "But a Category 4 Kaiju attacked Sydneigh this morning. Well, technically it's tomorrow morning because Roostralia's on the other side of the International Date Line and … sorry, I'm going off-topic."

Nick couldn't help himself from letting out a brief chuckle at the young doe's rambling.

She continued, "My point is, the Kaiju broke through the Sydneigh coastal wall in less than an hour. So, if you think the wall you're building here will be able to keep the Kaiju at bay…"

"I know it won't," Nick said curtly.

"Wait, you… you know?" Judy asked, baffled.

"I saw the news."

"Then why do you want to stay?"

"I told you; I can't Drift again. So this is as good a job as any to get me by," Nick said flatly with a shrug.

Judy gaped at the fox. His apathetic attitude went directly against her unyielding spirit, leaving her befuddled and unable to form a reply. Nick nodded at her and turned to walk again, breaking her out of her daze.

"Wait a second!" Her voice was almost a shriek.

Nick stopped again but this time he didn't turn to face her. "What is it, Hopps?" he asked, irritated. He wanted to go to the dorms and wash off the stinky grime and grease from his fur. And this bunny was keeping him away from that. Not to mention, this little discussion was making him late for dinner and he was quite hungry after the day's work.

Seeing him not turn around, Judy walked forward and stepped in front of the former ranger, turning her back to the two wolf guards who watched the scene with curious eyes.

"Excuse me if I'm being insensitive, but I don't see why you can't Drift again," she said, crossing her arms and holding eye contact with the fox.

Nick sighed loudly. "I bet you've never drifted, right?"

"No." Judy's ears drooped with her answer. _Not for lack of trying_ , she thought to herself angrily.

"Then you can't possibly understand what I'm saying. A Drift is a connection in the minds of two mammals…"

"Melding their memories and connecting them to one another as close as soulmates." Judy cut off the fox. "I've read the textbook. I get that you and your brother were close but you're not the first mammal to have seen their Drift partner or sibling die."

Nick's hackles rose involuntarily at the nonchalant tone of the bunny. The two guards reacted immediately, placing their paws on their firearms and shifting their positions to face the fox directly. Judy noticed the change in demeanor of the former ranger at the same time she heard the slight scuffle from behind her and turned around to see the two wolves in a tense stance, glaring at the fox. She turned back to face Nick, realizing the tactlessness of her words.

"No. No, I am not," Nick said hoarsely, wiping a paw over his neck to calm his hackles, while raising the other arm in a placating gesture at the guards. The wolves calmed themselves and returned to their earlier stance, while still keeping their paws on their weapons and eyes on the fox.

Nick gave a long sigh, before leaning down to eye-level with Judy, his snout just inches from the doe's face. The guards shifted again but remained passive, merely watching the former ranger. Nick said pointedly, "But I am the first one to have seen and FELT their partner die, while still drifting with them!" He paused, letting the words sink in.

He resumed, "A naive little bookworm with zero Drift experience can't possibly comprehend what it feels like to have half your mind get ripped to shreds by an alien monster! For a brief few seconds, I'm sure I experienced what it feels like to actually die! Did your textbook tell you how to deal with THAT?"

Judy flinched at the outburst from the fox, her nose starting to twitch rapidly.

"And after that," Nick continued, "I had to manage the entire strain of solo-piloting a Jaeger, kill the Kaiju that took Finnick and then walk back to shore in the freezing cold!"

Nick held his unwavering gaze with Judy, his pain evident on his face. The bunny gasped as she finally began to realize just how much suffering the mammal in front of her had endured.

"I'm lucky I didn't end up as a vegetable," Nick added as he stood back up. "I'm spent. So, stop wasting both your time and mine."

Judy stared at the fox in shock. Nick gave a short chuckle as he started to turn around. "Don't look so startled, Hopps. Isn't this what you wanted ever since you met me?"

With that, Nick gave a two-finger salute to the doe with a derisive snort, before turning around and walking away. He nodded at the two wolves before heading out of the foundation area. Judy gawked as the fox left, unable to form any response to his last words.

* * *

Judy's left foot thumped in frustration while she stood outside the helicopter staring at her satellite phone. She had sent a text immediately after her conversation with the former ranger. That was almost an hour ago and she was at the end of her patience waiting for a response. The four guards watched the doe fidget from their seats with varying expressions of amusement.

Just when she was about to send another text, the phone rang with a MuzzleTime call. She quickly accepted the call and her screen filled with the face of Marshall Bogo Pentecost.

"Hopps," Bogo said, "I saw your message. What happened?"

Judy stood in attention with a salute. She walked a bit further from the earshot of the guards and replied, "Sir, Nicholas Wilde turned down the offer. He refused to return to the PZDC as a pilot. It appears that he is still suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and some capacity of survivor's guilt."

"You didn't mention my name by any chance, did you?" Bogo asked, his voice growing concerned.

"No, sir. You told me not to," Judy replied with a frown.

Bogo momentarily appeared relieved before he sighed loudly. "Dammit! We could really use his expertise!"

Judy noted with curiosity at the brief look of regret on her superior's face. Bogo had been adamant that she not mention his name to the fox. She knew that the cape buffalo was Nick's old boss back when he used to be a ranger. But nothing in the fox's files implied any reason for the Marshall to hide his identity from him.

Judy shrugged to herself before responding. "Sir, with all due respect, I told you this might happen. This is why I suggested myself as..."

"Hopps, you know very well why you can't be the pilot." The large buffalo rubbed a hoof on his forehead, having had this discussion far too many times with the rabbit. "None of the other candidates' Drift profile matches with you. It's not your or anyone else's fault. So just, let it go!"

Judy's ears slouched on her back. Any last hope she had of becoming a Jaeger pilot vanished with the Marshall's words.

"Hopps, do you read?" Bogo asked.

"Yes, sir." Judy's voice was barely a whisper.

"Good. Now listen," Bogo started. "If we are to choose two of the candidates as the pilots, they would be going in completely inexperienced at operating a Mark 3. And with how strong the Kaijus have been getting recently, lack of experience is not something we can afford, Hopps. Do you understand?"

"I understand, sir," Judy said meekly.

"That is why Wilde would be a great asset to the PZDC. You know I'm a big believer in second chances." The Marshall's words were more of a statement than a question.

Judy nodded. "I do, sir."

"And very few mammals are more deserving of a second chance than Nick Wilde," Bogo said morosely.

"I understand, sir. But what are we supposed to do? We can't force Mr. Wilde to work for us."

Bogo looked at Judy with a pensive expression. "I leave this decision to you, Hopps. You were the one who oversaw the Mark 3 Restoration Program and you've also read Wilde's file. If anyone can convince him to rejoin the PZDC, it's you."

"What? Me?" Judy stumbled in her words.

"Yes, Hopps, you. And if you can't convince him, I trust that you can judge which two out of the candidate roster would be most suitable for the Mark 3. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to return to the meeting; it's not going as well as I had hoped. Good luck, Hopps."

"You too, sir," Judy replied with a salute as the call ended.

* * *

Nick sat at a small corner table inside Jumbeaux's Diner, located just next to the worker's dorms and about half a mile down the road from the helipad. He had showered at the dorm after his meeting with the rabbit doe from the PZDC and was now clad in a battered sea-green sweater and grey-tan pants. He shovelled the last few spoonfuls of nigh-tasteless mealworm gruel in his mouth, chewing with a grimace and helping it down with some dried fruits. Sharing the table with him was Gideon and Travis.

Earlier, one of Nick's dormmates had seen him with Judy and the two guard wolves and had spread it with the other mammals at their dorm. So, for the entire time during dinner, many of them, including his tablemates, poked and prodded at the red fox trying to find out what was going on. Nick had, however, kept his lips tightly sealed. He didn't need the gossip-worthy piece of information that he had talked with the PZDC regarding his re-recruitment to go public among his fellow workers. He already had to deal with their taunts when Gideon outed him. He didn't want to have to go through that ordeal again.

Failing to extract information about Nick's encounter, Gideon and Travis had tried to make small talk by reminiscing their teenage school days of hero-worshipping Jaegers and Jaeger pilots. Nick maintained his tight-lippedness the entire time, responding to their queries with aloof nods or curt half-hearted replies.

With dinner over, Nick stood up from the table and walked over to the bar where the elephant owner of the diner and bartender, Jerry Jumbeaux, Jr., was serving drinks to a group of beavers. Jerry shot him a look over the counter that was built with large mammals in mind and Nick waved his red ration card in response, drawing a sigh from the elephant. When he first moved to Prince Roopert one and a half years ago, Nick had gotten into a squabble with Jerry over their favourite hockey teams and the elephant never really forgave Nick for saying that the Pawlaska Aces were a better team than the Vancougar Canucks.

Nick jumped up and sat on one of the big empty stools. But before he could order his drink, the loud and brash voice of Doug sounded from behind, heading towards him.

"Hey, Dangerfox. I hear you were talkin' with some fancy-dressed official-lookin' bunny in a helicopter. That right?"

By the slight slur and hoarse tone of his voice, it was obvious that Doug had already downed a fair amount of alcohol. Nick tried his best to ignore the boorish hornless ram.

"Hey!" Doug slapped Nick roughly on his back, almost sending him sprawling to the floor. "Hey, Scruffy, I'm talkin' to you!"

Nick scowled and turned to face the ram. He spoke coldly, "I think you should call it a night, Doug. Sounds like you've had one too many drinks."

"You's callin' me lightweight, fox?" Doug tried to mimic a snarl which, in his inebriated state, came out more ridiculous than intimidating.

Luckily for Nick, two other foremammals, a coyote and a moose, as well as Jerry himself, stepped in before things got too heated. The coyote apologized to Nick while the moose gave Doug a glass of water and guided him away from the counter before he made a scene.

Nick turned around with a sigh and ordered his drink. As Jerry placed the can of maple beer on the counter, Nick heard some commotion start up in the diner. Ignoring the hubbub, he opened the can with a claw and took a long sip.

He suddenly realized that the commotion was getting closer to him. Thinking that Doug had done something stupid, Nick turned around. And what he saw made him almost drop his beer.

Making a path through the crowd of mammals, Judy Hopps marched towards the bar counter. And upon reaching it, she jumped up to sit on the empty stool next to Nick and ordered a carrot beer, much to the bewilderment of the red fox.

Nick regained his composure as he heard the crowd simmer down to whispers. This little grey rabbit had rendered him speechless thrice in the same day and he was getting irritated. He took a sip from his beer and asked coldly, "What brings you here, Ms. Textbook?"

Judy ignored the jab and reached for the glass Jerry placed in front of her. She took a sip, grimacing slightly as the cheap beer was more bitter than any she had tasted before, and replied with a sidelong glance, "I already told you. I'm here to hire you."

Nick cringed inwardly. _At least she didn't mention where she's from or what job she's trying to hire me for._ Although he had a growing suspicion that would change shortly.

Meanwhile, the hubbub in the diner grew tenfold at the doe's words. Jerry turned one of his gigantic ears towards the unlikely duo from the other end of the counter.

Nick surreptitiously took a glance around the diner. _Half of them already suspects where she's from. Only a matter of time until the other half catches on._ He sighed inwardly, preparing to bite the inevitable bullet.

"And I already told you my answer," Nick said, taking another sip from his beer.

"I'm here to persuade you to change your mind," Judy replied while downing a long swig, frowning at the acerbity of the drink.

Nick narrowed his eyes and huffed. "You're a persistent little bunny, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," she said quietly, taking another sip and turning to face the fox.

"Really?" Nick chuckled. "Alright. Just how do you plan on persuading me, Carrots?"

 _Carrots?!_ Judy's nose twitched slightly at the demeaning nickname. She was about to retaliate but her ears perked up at hearing a particularly sleazy remark originating from the other corner of the diner. She scowled in equal parts anger and embarrassment. She looked up at Nick's face but if the fox had heard the comment, his face didn't show it. Judy was never comfortable with being at the centre of attention. And now, roughly sixty odd mammals were gawking at her. She shrunk in her seat and returned to nursing her drink.

Nick, for his part, put on his best uncaring face, pointedly ignoring the discussions going on behind the pair. His mind was plagued by the thought that the following months would undoubtedly be filled with intense mockery from his coworkers.

The unlikely duo sat side by side in silence, both taking awkward sips from their respective drinks until, slowly but surely, they heard the hubbub of the diner started changing topic to something other than the two of them. Judy decided to ignore the remaining rubberneckers and resume her discourse with the fox.

"I apologize," she started, "for what I said earlier."

Nick's ear flicked at the words and he took a sidelong glance at his unexpected drinking partner.

Judy continued, "I realize I was rude and inconsiderate to your brother's memory and I'm really sorry for that."

Nick said nothing while he took another sip.

Judy looked at him, expecting a response but receiving none. Her ears drooped on her back while she spoke. "And you were right. I didn't want you to come back. But it's not because of something you said or did. And I shouldn't have let my personal feelings get in the way when I was talking to you." She turned back to stare at her glass. "I'm sorry."

Nick sighed loudly. He still didn't have the full picture but he could tell that the bunny was being sincere in her apology. "It's alright, Carrots," he said. "You're young. Older and more experienced mammals than you have been known to behave worse."

Judy's ears climbed slightly at the derogatory nickname. However, Nick's words held no malice towards her so she decided to accept her new moniker as penance. They sat quietly again, staring at their respective drinks. But this time, the silence was a little less awkward.

"I read your file," Judy said, looking up at him. "You quit the PZDC without completing your full course of psychological therapy. And," she hesitated, "if I'm not being out of line, I can see that you probably haven't taken any further therapy after that."

Nick's eyes shot open at the name drop of his previous employer. As expected, the conversations in the diner immediately increased in volume. _And, there it goes._ He sighed.

"Got me all figured out, don't you, Ms. Textbook?" he asked, putting off the thought of dealing with his colleagues for later.

Judy also noticed the increase in the gossiping in the diner and even caught some of the more snide remarks directed at both of them. She tried her best to ignore the unkind comments and said carefully to the former ranger, "If you come back, we can provide treatment for your PTSD."

"Why?" Nick asked brusquely.

The question took the bunny aback. "What?"

"Why are you so keen on rehiring me?" Nick elaborated, facing the doe. "I know that the PZDC is no longer funded by the ZN and rely on private investments. But I can't imagine there being that much of a shortage of candidates."

Judy stared at the fox for a few seconds, then turned back to her drink, collecting her thoughts, before turning back to face him. "Mr. Wilde, you have extensive experience in piloting a Mark 3, which none of our rookies do. Each Kaiju that's coming out of the Breach now is bigger and stronger than the previous one. Lack of experience in fighting them would cost us yet another Jaeger. And with our current state of resources, the PZDC simply can't afford that. I mean, it took us more than two years to restore a single Jaeger, for pickle's sake!"

Nick studied the bunny's face as she spoke. This was very much unlike their initial conversation. Her ears were drooped on her back, her mouth was frowning, her eyes lacked the coldness from earlier and instead were full of a despondency he was well familiar with.

"Mr. Wilde," she said earnestly, holding his gaze, "the PZDC needs your skill and fighting experience. Please reconsider the offer."

Nick remained quiet, mulling over his thoughts. What surprised him the most in the doe's expression were those purple eyes, in which he saw amidst all the despair, the faintest glimmer of hope; something he hadn't seen on another mammal's face in years.

Nick opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by an all-too-familiar voice.

"Hey Dangerfox, you hittin' on that bunny with you's fancy Jaeger stories?" Doug asked as he lumbered over, struggling to walk in a straight line.

Nick groaned. The last thing he needed was the crude ram's intrusions. Judy turned to see the source of the interruption and frowned at the inebriated ram.

Doug came up to the counter and flopped down on the stool on Judy's other side. "Hey, lady. Ya' like Jaeger stories? Well, I got a Jaeger joke for you," he slurred.

Judy's scowl deepened from the stench of alcohol coming from the ram.

"How many Jaegers does it take to change a lightbulb?" Doug said between hiccups. "None! Hah, get it? 'Cause everyone knows they's can't change a thing."

The ram started chuckling maniacally before he slumped over the counter and conked out.

Judy turned away from the pathetic sight to face Nick and saw that the hitherto contemplative expression of his green eyes had changed to a resigned one.

"He's right, Carrots," Nick began, his tone forlorn. "There's what, only 5 or 6 Jaegers still left standing? And you said it yourself, the Kaijus are getting stronger. Soon enough, there'll be no Jaegers left and then they'll come for the walls. And we all saw this morning what happens then."

Nick took a long swig of his beer and placed the can on the counter roughly. "The world is dying, Hopps! Mammalkind is done for! A single washout fox won't make a difference and you know it. So just… leave me alone... and... enjoy these last few days as best as you can." Nick stared down the can, looking at the slight amount of beer left at the bottom.

Judy took a long stare at the fox, her eyes slowly hardening. _So, you're a quitter after all, Wilde! The Marshall was wrong about you… You coward!_ She snatched her glass of beer from the table and finished it in one gulp, placing the glass down loudly on the counter. The noise silenced the murmuring crowd and broke Nick out of his stupor.

The fox turned to look at the rabbit and saw her glowering at him. His ears wilted before her piercing gaze. Nick could almost hear the word 'coward' playing inside the doe's mind repeatedly.

Judy slid a note of twenty bucks under the empty glass and said to Jerry, "Keep the change," her voice betraying her anger.

The elephant nodded while she hopped down from the stool. Nick watched her walk away as she marched through the crowd with loud, angry steps. The silenced crowd parted around her to give passage to the furious bunny. She stopped only when she reached the door and turned back to hold eye contact with the fox.

She spoke, her voice as cold as steel. "You're right, Mr. Wilde." Her bitter tone made Nick's ears and tail sag completely. "The world is coming to an end!"

The doe paused for a bit, letting the intensity of the words sink in, before resuming. "So where would you rather die? Here?" She looked around and huffed. "Building this useless wall?"

She then turned to look straight at him, her ears fully erect and fur bristling, and asked loudly, her voice almost echoing in the sudden silence of the diner "Or in a Jaeger?"

The two of them held their gaze for a few seconds before Nick looked away, unable to face those ferocious purple eyes. Judy snorted, turned around and walked out of the diner. Every single mammal watched her leave and then instantly turned their eyes towards Nick in unison. But before anyone could say anything, Doug started to wake up from his short-lived alcohol-induced slumber.

"Hey, hey, I got another joke," he started, failing to realize that the doe wasn't next to him any more.

"What do Jaegers an' marriage have in common?" he asked through a flurry of hiccups, turning to face Nick. Without pausing for a beat, the ram answered, "They's both seem like a good idea at the time. But give a couple'o decades and they's stop workin' out, and still cost a fortune! Heh heh, ain't that right, Dangerfox?"

Nick tried to ignore the ram and finish what was left of his beer. But the plastered sheep slapped his shoulder heavily, knocking the can to the ground and spilling its remaining content on the floor.

"Hey, don'tchu ignore me, Scruffy! I'm you's boss," Doug yelled near Nick's ears.

A low growl started emanating from the fox's throat and his hackles and tail fur started bristling. Jerry, from the other end of the bar counter, quickly took a few steps towards the scene, hoping to prevent a scuffle.

"Hey, cool it, Doug. You're drunk," the elephant bellowed.

Doug clearly wasn't afraid of either the fox or the elephant. He turned to face Jerry. "Shut it, Jumbo! This is between me an' Dangerfox."

He then leaned over to Nick and spoke, his tone menacing, "And as for you, who d'you think you's be growlin' at, ya' stinkin' fox? I'ma the one puttin' food in you's gut. You do somethin' and ya' won't have a job come mornin'. So, pipe down, Scruffy!"

Nick felt something click inside him. And suddenly, the world was a lot less complicated. The red fox breathed evenly, calming himself, and stopped his growling. He waved at Jerry and said calmly, "Hey, Jer. Another beer, please."

The anxious elephant quickly slid another can over, keeping a cautious distance from the fox whose hackles were still standing on end.

Nick grabbed the can with his left paw and clawed it open. "You're right, Doug," he said calmly. "You're the boss. So, let's drink to that." Nick took a sip and stared at the ram evenly.

Doug had lost some of his steam from the fox's sudden change of demeanor. But he scowled again and spoke indignantly. "A'right, Scruffy. Where's ma' drink?"

"Oh," Nick said as he reached out with his right arm, "It's right here." Then with a simple motion of his arm, he caught the back of Doug's head and slammed him face-first onto the counter. Without missing a beat, he raised the ram's face and slammed the beer can on his nose with his left arm. The can crumpled instantly and foam exploded everywhere, drenching both the fox and the sheep. Doug fell onto the floor with a heavy thud, knocked out cold.

The diner went pin-drop silent. _Time to leave_ , Nick thought. He jumped down from the stool and flicked out his red ration card. He tossed it to the table where Gideon and Travis were still sitting, staring bug-eyed at the scene before them.

"Hey, Gid, Trav," Nick said, "Knock yourselves out. My treat."

Gideon picked up the card. "Tha…. thanks, Nick. Be safe out there."

Abruptly, Travis jumped up on the table and cried excitedly, punching the air, "Go kick some Kaiju butt, Wilde!"

To Nick's surprise, more than a few mammals hollered and hooted with the ferret, cheering and clapping at the fox. Nick turned around and saw many mammals in the diner join in the applause, including the coyote and moose foremammals from earlier. He even saw Jerry give a little trumpet.

Nick nodded at Gideon and Travis. "I'll try. Take care, you two."

And with that, Nick darted out of the diner. He didn't stop running until he reached his dorm room. He hurriedly threw everything he had in his duffel bag and dashed out of the dorms in full sprint towards the helipad, hoping that he wasn't too late.

* * *

Nick ran past a large bulldozer to see that the Sea Stallion was still at the helipad, however, its rotors were idling. He increased his speed, pushing his tired body to run faster. As he got closer, he saw that the side door was ajar and Judy Hopps was standing in the doorway, looking at the approaching fox with her eyebrows raised.

As Nick came to a stop next to the door, she spoke. "Mr. Wilde." Her tone was calm, reserved.

"Ms. Hopps," he replied, panting from the exertion.

"What brings you here, Mr. Washout?" Judy asked, mirroring Nick's earlier question.

The faintest hint of a smirk appeared across the fox's snout. He said simply, "You persuaded me."

Judy narrowed her eyes, stepping aside to let the fox board. "Really?" she asked, unconvinced.

"Yep," Nick replied as he boarded the chopper. He sat down on one of the empty seats next to the two wolf guards, giving the pair a nod and pushing his bag under the seat.

One of the deer guards sitting next to the door pulled it close. Judy gave the all clear to the pilot before stepping over to the seat next to the fox. The chopper lifted off into the night sky, heading over the water towards the city of Vancougar.

"On a completely unrelated note," Nick started, Judy's ear flicking up in response. "I lost my job."

The doe turned to face the fox, whose face had the most self-satisfied smirk she had ever seen.

"Something about wasting perfectly good maple beer on the face of your superior," he explained smugly. Nick was pleased to see the shadow of a smile appear at a corner of the bunny's lips.

She nodded knowingly. "Normally, I wouldn't approve of that. But something tells me he had it long overdue."

Nick gave a smirk before his expression turned calm. "I really didn't expect you to wait for me to get my head in the game."

Judy replied holding his gaze, the slight smile still present on her lips, "Well, I am a persistent bunny."

Nick gave a quiet chuckle as he turned his face downwards to look at his bag peeking out from under the seat. The cabin fell into a amicable silence.

"Thank you." The fox's voice was barely a whisper and Judy only heard it because her large ears were right next to him. She turned to face him and Nick looked at her with a grateful smile.

She was still feeling saddened that the fox effectively took her dream job but she couldn't help herself from returning a smile. "You're welcome, Mr. Wilde," the doe said while extending her paw. "Welcome back to the PZDC."

Nick grasped her paw and gave a firm pawshake, as the chopper flew through the night sky over the black waters of the Zoocific Ocean.

* * *

Author's Note:

Super-delayed Chapter 5 here. As mentioned in the previous chapter's notes, this chapter marks a significant deviation from the plot progression of the movie. This is also the longest chapter till date. Those factors as well as real-life distractions caused this delay. Also, proofing this one took almost a week. I can't thank aemx enough for letting me pester him with every little detail that comes to my mind. Thanks a ton, dude :D

As always, thank you very much for your interest in this story. Leave your comments and reviews on what you thought of this change in plot progression. And feel free to let me know if I made any mistakes and do share any advice you might have :)


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

* * *

3 March, 2030 - Kaiju War, Year 17  
Above East Chyena Sea, Western Zoocific Ocean

Movement from the armadillo sitting in the window seat next to her stirred Judy from her book. She looked up to see the fidgety old mammal staring out the window of the aeroplane, looking at the breathtaking view of the seaside city of Hog Kong glimmering in the morning sunlight.

The doe closed the book she had been reading since she woke up about five hours ago. Judy had been on quite a few trans-zoocific flights before and was accustomed to the fourteen hour trips, unlike the nervous armadillo who had told her almost immediately after boarding that this was her first time on such a long flight.

Judy placed the book next to her — her seat being made for medium-sized mammals left her a lot of extra room — and peeked out in the aisle. About twelve rows back, she spotted her red-furred companion slumped back in his aisle seat, earbuds plugged in his ears playing the in-flight movie.

After picking up Nick Wilde from Prince Roopert the previous night, the helicopter temporarily loaned to the PZDC by the Canidan military ferried both of them to Vancougar. On the way, Judy had informed Nick about the dire strait of affairs the PZDC was struggling with, leaving the fox quite stunned.

"I heard that Hog Kong was the last Shatterdome left standing but I didn't realize it was this bad," he had said.

"It's worse,"Judy had replied glumly.

As she had feared, Nick asked next who the current Marshall was. Bogo was adamantly insistent that the fox not learn of his identity until they met in person. Judy hated lying but the Marshall's strict order left her very little choice in the matter. Luckily for the doe, she had gotten a timely distraction in the form of a call from the Canidan Military Liaison Officer regarding the logistics of the loaned chopper. Unluckily, said call left her spending the rest of the flight to Vancougar arguing with the irritable caribou at the other end of the line.

After disembarking the helicopter at the Vancougar International Airport, the two of them managed to board the flight for Hog Kong just in time. Since Judy had to buy their tickets in a hurry, she couldn't get them adjacent seats. After boarding the plane, the fox was so tired that he fell asleep the moment he settled in. Judy, however, had stayed awake to have the in-flight dinner before turning in for the night.

Nick had awoken in the morning around the same time as the rabbit and both of them ordered some breakfast. But, on account of having nothing else to do afterwards, the fox decided to plug in a pair of earbuds for the in-flight movie. Judy, on the other paw, always carried a couple of books to read on these long flights.

"Attention passengers," the in-flight announcement sounded, breaking Judy out of her thoughts. "We are beginning our descent to Hog Kong International Airport. Please return to your seats and make sure your seat belts are securely fastened, the tray tables are in their upright position and all carry-on luggages are stowed underneath the seats or in the overhead compartments. Thank you."

The announcement startled Nick from his movie. He took out the earbuds and stretched a little, leaning his head out into the aisle. He spotted Judy looking back at him from her seat and gave a little nod. Judy returned the gesture before both of them returned to their seats, preparing for the plane to land.

* * *

Despite their rush to catch the trans-zoocific flight at the Vancougar Airport, Judy had managed to call and inform the PZDC of their arrival time. Thus, immediately upon landing at the Hog Kong Airport, Nick and Judy were greeted by a pair of PZDC corporals, a hyena and a nilgai, who escorted the fox and the rabbit to a Westland Lynx military helicopter with the PZDC emblem emblazoned on its side.

A few minutes after they were airborne once more, the chopper passed by the city on its way to the Shatterdome on Tsing Yak Island, overlooking the Hog Kong Harbour. The hustle and bustle of the overpopulated metropolis looked similar to as it was before the Kaiju War had started, seemingly unaffected by it. But Nick had been to the city before and was able to pick out the general area of Hog Kong's Bone Slum from the chopper.

It sat right in the heart of the city, built in and around the massive skeleton of the first Kaiju to attack Hog Kong, Reckoner, the largest ever Category 1 Kaiju, in late 2016. After Reckoner fell, PZDC and the local authorities set up the Hog Kong Exclusion Zone to prevent the spread of Kaiju Blue. A few months later, the PZDC succeeded in clearing out most of the toxic alien blood. The local authorities reauthorized transport through the area but officially prohibited rebuilding and residence. But in a place as congested as Hog Kong, nobody paid attention to the laws so long as profits could be made. In less than two months after the clearance from PZDC, the urban sprawl had regrown organically over the giant skeletal remains of the Kaiju. Nick had stood gaping at the sight for a couple of minutes the first time he came to the city a few years back.

The Kaiju's corpse had long been harvested and picked clean by scavengers for black market sales, until nothing except its huge bones remained. Mammals who chose to reinhabit the land and rebuild illegally, coexisted with the remains of the Kaiju. The Hog Kong Exclusion Zone was soon renamed as the Hog Kong Bone Slum, a shanty town that attracted criminals of all manners, Kaiju fanatics and unfortunate mammals who couldn't afford any better or safer living conditions. Many buildings were illegally constructed in and around the enormous skeleton of Reckoner, and its humongous skull was reshaped into a temple for worship by Kaiju cultists.

There were other Bone Slums like this around the world. Nick had seen one in Fanghai and another in San Furcisco. His mind wondered, that in some bizarre way, these Bone Slums were a testament to the resilience of mammalkind.

* * *

"The rain sure came in quick. Reminds me of my time in Fanghai," Nick said while unclasping his seatbelt, looking at the sight of the roof of the Hog Kong Shatterdome through the brief drizzle that began moments ago.

The hyena pilot had landed the chopper in one of the dozen or so helipads on the roof of the Shatterdome. Most of them were filled with other helicopters and jumpjets. Despite the slight rain, mammals milled about landing pads, from pilots and mechanics giving the aircrafts their daily checks to workers hauling cargo in and out of them.

"Yeah, you get used to it." Judy picked up a medium sized umbrella from a rack next to the door and held it out to the fox. "Here."

"Thanks, Hopps," Nick said, grabbing the umbrella in one paw and his bag on the other.

The nilgai opened the door and stepped down from the chopper. While Nick stepped out into the rain and opened the umbrella, Judy thanked the two mammals who replied with a nod. Judy opened her own umbrella and joined Nick leaving the two mammals to their work. The fox and the rabbit started walking towards the large hangar bay doors.

Nick looked around to observe the staggering amount of activity around them. A pair of genets repaired a jumpjet near them; an elephant carried a large engine assembly; four gaurs passed by, each pushing a cart loaded with large crates stamped with the PZDC logo; a pair of rhinos hauled a large pipe section between them; a mixed pack of dholes and jackals carefully carried what appeared to be parts of a radar antennae; three barasinghas and three sambar deers pushed a large cart loaded with a turbine rotor assembly, etc. Nick even saw some smaller mammals amidst the medley. A couple of kangaroo rats scampered about, carrying tiny clipboards and overseeing the unloading operation from a Sikorsky King Stallion heavy-lift cargo helicopter; two weasels helped a meerkat carry a bunch of glass jars with plants in them; a possum and a wombat strolled past, arguing about the pre-flight check up procedure of a jumpjet during an emergency situation, etc. Nick also saw a few armed guards of various species and sizes keeping a careful watch over all the activity.

"I know this is Hog Kong, but isn't this all a bit too crowded?" Nick asked.

Judy awoke from her own musing and looked around, her eyebrows raising slightly. "Hm, this is definitely not the normal level of activity." Then she recalled her phone call from the previous night. "Oh yeah. Howler Eureka was supposed to arrive today. Looks to me like they already have."

The fox nodded as the bunny led them past the giant hangar bay doors and into a large cargo elevator. Inside the elevator were a couple of large cylindrical glass tanks, flanked on the sides by a warthog and an okapi in worker's coveralls. As he closed his umbrella and gave it to Judy's offered paw, Nick did a double-take at seeing the contents of the tanks. Floating amid the murky greenish fluid of the tanks were pieces of a Kaiju brain.

Nick recalled the images of Kaiju brains from the training seminars during his previous time as a ranger. It was one of those things that just stayed in the back of your mind. The greyish-black brain tissue didn't resemble any mammal brain; it looked more like a giant squid riddled with alien-looking fibrous protrusions. Having never seen one with his own eyes, Nick peered at the Kaiju brain, his snout barely inches from the vessel.

Judy handed the two umbrellas to the lift operator, a panda, and turned to look with an amused expression at the fox craning his neck towards the glass tank. She turned away at the sound of the elevator door closing with a slight groan of machinery. However, before the door even closed halfway, a shout came from outside. "Hey, wait for us! Hold the door!"

Nick turned at the call to see a pair of antelopes, a kudu and an oryx, rushing towards the elevator, each wielding umbrellas over their heads and carrying a datapad in their other arm.

The panda halted the door to let the odd pair enter before closing it. As the elevator started descending down its shaft with pings and groans, the two antelopes panted loudly.

"Hey, be careful around those," the kudu said between gasps. "Kaiju specimens are extremely rare. So, look but don't touch."

From their body language, Nick surmised that both of them were scientists, before Judy spoke, confirming his suspicions.

"Mr. Wilde, meet our K-science research team; Dr. Buchholz Antlerson and Dr. Pran Kumar Oryxler," the doe said, gesturing at the kudu and the oryx, respectively.

"C'mon Jude, you know us better than that," the kudu said with a mock whine, shaking his umbrella dry before passing it over to the oryx to give to the lift operator. He turned to face Nick and said, "Call us Bucky and Pronk."

Nick gave a bemused nod before taking a step forward, paw extended. "Nick Wilde."

Bucky grasped Nick's paw and shook firmly. "You must be the pilot the Marshall was talking about. For the restored Jaeger?"

"So I've been told," Nick replied with a smirk.

Bucky turned to Pronk, who was fidgeting with his datapad. "Hey Pronk. Would it kill you to drop that pad for one second and say hello to the newcomer?"

Pronk looked up from his datapad with an argumentative expression. "Well, excuse me for wanting to get started on analyzing the data." He turned to Nick, his expression changing instantly to a friendly face, and said quickly, "Nice to meet you, by the way." The oryx immediately turned back towards Bucky and continued in the previous belligerent tone. "I'm sorry that some of us have actual work to do rather than stare at rotting silicon flesh day and night."

"Well, I'm sorry that some of us actually likes getting their hooves dirty in their line of work rather than gawk at computer screens and holograms every waking minute," Bucky replied just as heatedly to the oryx.

"Oh, shut up."

"You shut up."

"No, you shut up."

"Shut your mouth!"

As the pair continued bickering with each other like a couple of kits, Nick turned to Judy with an inquisitive stare. Judy shrugged, rolling her eyes at the two deers' antics, and mouthed, "Yep, they're always like that."

Nick gave a baffled nod before he saw that the sleeve on Bucky's arms had rode up slightly during the argument, revealing part of a colourful tattoo of a Kaiju on both arms. Nick raised his eyebrows slightly before deciding to intervene in the pair's quarrel.

"Nice ink," he said. "Who is that? Yamarashi?"

The two antelopes instantly stopped their altercation to turn to face the fox. "Oh, this little fella? Yeah. You got a good eye there, buddy," Bucky said, giving an approving nod while rolling up his sleeves further to reveal the full tattoo of Yamarashi's face on both of his arms. The tattoos were mainly green in colour, like the original Kaiju, and displayed its long flat snout, four eyes and horn-like structures all over its head. The image was stylized with flames rising from the Kaiju's head.

"Well, I've seen the real deal up close and personal," Nick said casually. "Los Antleres, December, 2018. It was a two-Jaeger drop. Took us almost four hours to bring that beast down." Nick shuddered remembering the gruelling fight. It was his and Finnick's first deployment. The two Jaegers, Romeow Blue and Foxy Danger, grappled with the lumbering giant for hours, tumbling all over the harbour and waterfront districts, destroying scores of buildings and property alike, before finally succeeding in cracking its spine.

While reminiscing about the fight with Yamarashi, Nick's thoughts inevitably changed to his last deployment that fateful night seven years ago. A twinge of pain coursed through the red fox, causing an involuntary grimace to appear on his face. Judy watched tensely at the sudden shift in the fox's demeanor.

Bucky, however, kept talking unhindered, breaking the fox out of his grim memories with his jubilant voice. "Yeah, what a powerhouse, right? You know, he was the biggest Category 2 ever? He was two thousand five hundred tons of awesome!"

That last sentence caused every other mammal in the elevator to turn towards the excitable kudu, their eyebrows raised.

Nick looked up squarely at the kudu, his frown deepening. A slight rise of his left eyebrow conveyed his thought to Bucky, who realized his faux pas.

"Or awful," the kudu backpedalled, "you know! Or awesome in the classic sense of the word; awe-inspiring?"

"Please excuse him," Pronk spoke up from behind his colleague. "He's a Kaiju groupie. He loves them."

"Shut up, Pronk." Bucky turned back to face the oryx. "I don't love them, okay? I study them. I've studied them, like, for my whole life. And unlike most people, I wanna see one alive and up close one day."

Nick had heard this spiel before; zealots who romanticized the Kaijus even as they set about destroying mammal civilization. He gave a quiet sigh.

The elevator came to a stop and the door opened. Judy started walking, beckoning Nick to follow. The red fox reached out and patted Bucky's elbow.

"Trust me. You don't want to," Nick told the kudu, holding his gaze for a second, before turning around and following Judy out the elevator.

The door to the elevator closed behind them as it descended further down into the base. Judy waved Nick to follow her down a hallway. A few mammals in PZDC uniform, passed by the pair, some of them nodding and exchanging pleasantries with the rabbit. Although none of them were familiar to Nick, their odd stares at the fox all but spelt out that he was definitely familiar to them. Nick kept his expression as deadpan as he did during his stint at Prince Roopert. A little ways into the hallway, the pair turned down a narrow corridor and the number of mammals lessened.

"Bucky and Pronk are a bit…" Judy struggled to find an inoffensive word, waving her paws about, "eccentric! But they're quite the talented scientists."

"If you say so," Nick replied, unconvinced. "Sounds like you know them personally."

"Little bit. When I was training at the Jaeger Academy in Northern Zoopan, they were bunked next to the cadets' dormitory." A slight smile appeared on Judy's face. "You think they're irritable now. Back then, they would argue all night long, keeping many of us cadets awake late at night."

Nick chuckled slightly. "I can imagine having those large ears must have been quite troublesome back then."

"You have no idea," Judy said while struggling to stifle a laugh.

Nick smiled at seeing the doe relax, until he stopped suddenly. "Wait a minute!" His voice was sharp and tense.

Judy halted and turned back, her ears rising in curiosity.

"You said they're your K-science research division. Just those two?" Nick's voice was incredulous.

Judy nodded solemnly, her ears falling flat on her back. "I'm afraid so. The drop in funding caused most of our researchers to quit. Bucky and Pronk are the only two left."

She started walking as she spoke. "We're not an army any more, Mr. Wilde. We're the resistance. This way."

Nick followed behind her silently, his expression cycling through a plethora of emotions. After a few seconds of sombre silence, he tried to alleviate the atmosphere with a joke. "Well, I certainly feel bad for the mammal in charge of those two clowns."

Judy's posture stiffened slightly, realizing the eventual shift in topic.

"Hey, speaking of which," Nick continued, "you never did get around to telling me who's the current Marshall."

 _There it is_ , Judy thought. She kept walking normally, pretending she didn't hear the question.

Nick waited for an answer but received none. "Hopps? Who's the Marshall?"

"I can't tell you," Judy replied evenly, struggling to keep the nervousness from her voice.

"Huh? Why not?" Nick asked, surprised.

Judy spoke while walking, not turning around to face the fox. "I'm very sorry, Mr. Wilde, but I'm under strict orders from the Marshall to not divulge his identity to you until you meet him in person."

"Why would…" Nick queried, utterly puzzled, "why would he ask you to do that?"

"I have no idea. I've asked him for the reason but he wouldn't tell me."

The doe came to a stop in front of a large iron door. She quickly knocked on the door before the fox came to a stop next to her. She looked up at Nick and said apologetically, "I'm afraid you'll have to ask him yourself."

"I don't understand." Nick scratched his head in confusion while setting his bag down on the floor. "Why would he keep his identity a secret from…"

Just then, the door next to them opened, cutting off Nick mid-sentence and revealing the large and imposing form of a mammal that was all-too-familiar to the fox.

Immediately, Nick's stance shifted. His eyes narrowed and his fangs peeked out from the corners of his scowling snout, as a guttural rumbling started in his chest. His voice was almost a growl when he spoke his next word, dripping with venom.

"Bogo!"

* * *

Author's Note:

Yay for another delayed chapter. Did I ever mention that I took 3 years to finish my 5 chapter long (20k word total) FTL fanfic? No? Probably should've told you that earlier… Awkward...

Awkwardness aside, Chapter 7 is already done and in its last bit of proofing (seriously, just one sentence left) and I'm already halfway through Chapter 8 (no, really, I am). Anyway, in this chapter, our duo of recruiter rabbit and former wall-worker fox arrive at the last bastion of mammalkind, the Hog Kong Shatterdome. Excitement and all that, eh?

Again, super thanks to aemx for being on the receiving end of my random questions and being a Totes Cool Dude (TM) :D

And as always, thank you very much for your interest in this story. Leave your comments and reviews and feel free to let me know if I made any mistakes and do share any advice you might have :)


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

* * *

Marshall Bogo Pentecost stood at the doorway to his chamber, looking at the two smaller mammals standing in front of him. He held eye contact with the almost-snarling red fox and replied calmly, "Wilde."

"Of course!" Nick growled. "I should've known this whole shindig was too good to be true! Should've figured out sooner who was the head honcho. Heh, I guess old age's finally catching up to me!" he chuckled mirthlessly.

Nick turned his eyes to Judy and it was now the bunny's turn to wilt under his spiteful gaze. "So, this is why you didn't tell me who the Marshall was." His voice was scathing.

Judy stumbled at the vindictive green eyes, "Wh… what? No, I told you. The Marshall never told me…"

"Wilde," Bogo intervened, snapping the fox's combative attention back to himself. "Hopps doesn't know why I ordered her not to reveal my name to you."

Nick stared angrily at the cape buffalo before turning to face Judy for a moment, before turning back to flare at Bogo. Judy, for her part, stood silently to the side analyzing the sudden turn of events. She had suspected the fox had some history with the Marshall, considering that they worked together at the Pawlaska Shatterdome. But she never imagined that Nick held a grudge against the buffalo.

After a tense few seconds, Nick finally spoke "Whatever!" and lifted his duffel bag on his shoulder and started to turn back towards the elevator.

"Wait, Mr. Wilde. Where are you going?" Judy startled awake from her musing.

"To where I belong," Nick replied, his voice low, "in the _gutter_ … with the rest of the _filth_ …"

"What?" Judy exclaimed, shocked at the implication, before turning to face the buffalo with sheer disbelief in her eyes and her nose twitching. "What's he talking about, sir?" Her question was barely a whisper.

To his credit, Bogo maintained his steady demeanor even though the fox's words cut deep inside him, echoing his own words from seven years ago.

"Five minutes," Bogo said calmly, his booming voice not revealing his swirling emotions.

Nick stopped some ways down the hallway with his back still turned towards them. "Give me one good reason why." His reply was as cold as his posture.

"Because you wouldn't be here if you didn't accept Hopps' offer to be a Jaeger pilot again," Bogo replied calmly.

At this, the fox turned around, his eyes remaining narrow and snout still grimacing. He held his gaze with the Marshall.

Bogo continued, "So just give me…"

Nick raised his paw, causing Bogo to halt. "Oh I think you've said plenty last time I saw you. I'm not interested in anything you have to say."

The cape buffalo sighed. "Five minutes. That's all I ask." He stepped aside to point at his door.

"I said, I'm not interested." The fox turned around and started to walk away.

"Wilde, do you really believe the PZDC isn't worth five minutes of your time?"

"Not the PZDC, just you."

"Wilde!" The Marshall's voice strained ever so slightly, drawing attention from the bunny standing next to him. "The PZDC needs you! I know I've said far too many things already, but just give me five more minutes… if you think fighting the Kaiju invasion is better than cowering behind hopeless walls…"

Nick stopped and turned around once more. This time he held the Marshall's gaze for almost half a minute while Judy stood completely silent, staring from the fox to the buffalo.

"Five minutes. Not a second more," the fox said finally, walking back towards the pair.

Bogo nodded. "Step inside," he said, moving away from the door to his office to let the fox pass.

He then turned to face Judy, the bunny quickly standing in attention. "Hopps. Go to the LOCCENT and report your arrival. Then wait for me at the entry to the Jaeger bay."

"Sir," Judy replied with a salute, despite her nose still twitching and confusion plainly visible in her eyes. She stretched her head slightly to see the fox standing crisply inside the Marshall's office before turning away and going back the way she came.

Bogo looked at the receding form of the bunny for a few seconds before sighing and then stepped inside his chamber, shutting the door behind him. Inside, he found the fox standing stiff as a board at the visitor's side of his large table, with his duffel bag still slung on his shoulder and a scowl on his snout.

"Have a seat," said the Marshall as he went around the table and sat down in his own chair on the other side.

Nick dropped the bag on the floor and leapt up to sit on the large chair built to accommodate bigger mammals.

The fox and the buffalo stared at each other silently for more than half a minute.

Nick was the first to speak. "Four minutes left, Chief."

"Right," Bogo acknowledged. "I would like to begin by saying that Hopps has no idea what transpired between us. You can be as angry towards me as you like but don't hold it against her."

Nick sat silently, his face a cold mask, waiting for the Marshall to continue.

Bogo began again. "It wasn't until about six-seven months from that day, that the full ramifications of my actions caught up to me. I let my anger take control and lost myself a damned good ranger."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Nick said coldly.

Bogo sighed. "I wanted to contact you then and there but I… didn't. Call it bullheadedness, pride, whatever you want. Fact of the matter is, I didn't. And then from early 2024, the first Category 4 Kaijus started coming out of the Breach and we started losing Jaegers. The PZDC steadily lost funding from the ZN until 2027, when the Jaeger Program was officially discontinued." Bogo paused. "Wilde, things have gotten much worse since you…" he hesitated, "quit."

"Right," Nick chuckled, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "I quit! Yep!" He shifted around in the oversized chair for a more comfortable position. "Just because I live like trash doesn't mean I don't keep up to date on the news," Nick said, while crossing his arms. "Where are you going with this, Chief?"

Bogo sighed again. _I knew this would be hard but Wilde's definitely not making it easy for me, not that I can blame him._

"I meant what I said, Wilde. You're a damned good ranger and the PZDC could use your fighting skills." Bogo pinched the bridge of his nose with a hoof. "Tell me. How many other rangers do you know that have solo-piloted a Jaeger?"

"Just one, though I'm not sure if the numbers have changed in the past seven years."

"The number hasn't changed. I'm sure you don't need to be told the amount of skill it takes to solo-pilot without ending up brain-dead," Bogo said evenly.

Nick didn't answer. He stared intently at the cape buffalo, his expression a combination of fury and disbelief.

Bogo pushed his chair back, standing up and putting his hooves behind him. He let his face reflect his guilt plainly, no longer having the will or desire to hide it. "Not a single day has gone by since late 2023 that I didn't wake up regretting my actions."

Nick gazed at the buffalo's remorseful face, his own face still a hardened mask of simmering rage.

Bogo said, his tone full of regret, "I failed. I failed in my duty as a Marshall. I want to blame my anger, my frustration; but they're all excuses; lies I tell myself. They don't change the fact that I failed to be a leader to the mammals serving under me."

Nick held his gaze, still not answering.

Bogo continued, "I am deeply regretful for all that I said and did that day. I deserve your contempt."

They stayed like that for almost half a minute before the fox spoke. "Just one more minute left, Chief."

Bogo rubbed a hoof on his forehead. "Wilde. Do you honestly think none of the mammals in the world deserve as much of a chance as we, the PZDC, can give them to survive? Isn't that why you chose to come back?"

The fox stared blankly at the towering cape buffalo.

"This is our curtain call. The world is coming to an end, Wilde. That's why we need good pilots. Like you… Wouldn't you rather go down fighting? Wouldn't you rather prove what I said all those years ago wrong? Doesn't the world deserve that?"

Nick breathed audibly, exhaling a breath he didn't know he was holding. He hopped down from the large chair and went over to pick up his bag.

"Wilde?"

Nick would swear that he just heard the stern buffalo's voice waver, something he didn't think was possible. He hefted the bag on his shoulder and turned back to face the Marshall.

"I always said you should have your own line of recruitment slogans, sir," Nick said flatly.

Bogo stared at the fox, bewildered.

"I'm in. What do I have to do?" Nick said finally.

Bogo exhaled a deep breath in relief, his shoulders relaxing. "A simple yes or no would've sufficed, ranger."

"Just so we're clear," Nick spoke evenly, "I'm only staying to fight the Kaijus because that's what I signed up for, both times; and it's what Finn would've wanted. NOT because of your honeyed words… sir!"

If it was anyone else, Bogo would've stiffened at the slight insubordination but all he could do was nod blankly. "Fair enough," he said quietly while walking around the table to stand in front of the red fox. He stretched his hoof. "Welcome back, Ranger Wilde."

Nick returned the pawshake coldly.

"Come then. Let me give you the tour, before Hopps shows you to your Jaeger," Bogo said, opening the door and heading out.

At hearing the words 'your Jaeger', Nick felt slightly woozy on his feet. Those two words got to him, right in the part of his soul that he thought he had left behind, much deeper than any of the Marshall's apology. Nick teetered on his toes for a brief second before stepping out of the office.

"Lead the way, Chief," he said, falling in step beside the buffalo. "You know she's going to ask what we were talking about."

"I know," Bogo huffed. "I'll leave that decision to you"

"Shoving me in the deep end already, Chief?" Nick asked, a slight smirk appearing at the corner of his lips.

"I didn't want to give her a false account of the events, even by mistake. You were the wronged party, Wilde. You deserve to tell the tale."

"Who is she, anyway? She knows her Jaeger tech and is certainly no desk-jockey. She mentioned being in the academy but it doesn't seem like she's a ranger."

"Judy Hopps is one of our brightest cadets out of the academy, has been for years now," the Marshall said with the slightest hint of pride. "She was the one in charge of the Mark 3 Restoration Program. And, no, she is not a Jaeger pilot."

Nick sensed from Bogo's tone that there was more to the doe than that. But he kept his tongue and filed that tidbit away. The cape buffalo and the fox walked the rest of the path in silence until they reached a small personnel elevator. The pair rode the elevator down to the ground level and walked towards a large blast door, roughly forty feet tall and twenty feet wide. At one side of the blast door, stood Judy Hopps, leaning against a large stool and staring at her phone. One of her ears rose up at the approaching pawsteps and she turned to face the two mammals. She quickly pocketed her phone and stood in attention with a crisp salute.

"At ease, Hopps," Bogo said. "Wilde and I have come to an agreement. We will give him the tour of the Shatterdome first and then you'll escort him to his Jaeger and show him to his room."

"Yes sir," Judy said. She then turned around and hopped up on top of the stool. On the wall near the top of the stool was a keypad. She quickly tapped a key code and the blast doors started opening with a loud grinding noise.

Bogo walked through the blast doors first, the rabbit and the fox following closely behind him. "Welcome to the Hog Kong Shatterdome, Wilde."

* * *

Author's Note:

I told you Chapter 7 was ready, but you didn't believe me! Well, what now, eh? :P

Anyway, a smaller chapter this time but a rather emotional one, with Nick and Bogo finally coming to a head. I hope you enjoy what I've done with their characterization :)

As always, a super duper, party pooper (wait what) thanks to aemx for helping me out with proofing and editing and figuring out some of the dialogues to make them sound more like Nick and Bogo and less like than Raleigh and Pentecost :D

And as always, thank you very much for your interest in this story. Leave your comments and reviews and feel free to let me know if I made any mistakes and do share any advice you might have :)


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

* * *

The first time Nick had entered the Ancougarage Shatterdome, thirteen years ago, he had been astounded by the sheer scale of the facility and its massive Jaeger Bay. But that paled in comparison to the Hog Kong Shatterdome's Jaeger Bay. Where Ancougarage had only enough space for three, maybe four, Jaegers; Hog Kong was enormous enough to house probably a few dozen.

The dome itself was almost five hundred feet high at its apex, in the centre. The roof was constructed to open up like a spiral for delivering cargo directly inside, but at the moment it was closed because of the rain. From the central staging area, eight tracks radiated outwards. One of them led back to the blast doors they entered through, leading back into the base. The track diametrically opposite from the blast door led to Scramble Alley, the ramp leading down to a massive set of blast doors, about four hundred feet high, for deploying a Jaeger into the ocean. Outside the oceanside blast doors, Nick knew there was a staging pad where V-50 Jumphawk helicopters could hook up to a waiting Jaeger and fly it to its drop point.

The remaining six tracks, three on each side, led to six Jaeger bays, each tall enough to accommodate the huge robots and framed with numerous catwalks and platforms to allow access to any part of a Jaeger from any angle, for repair, maintenance or inspection. The spaces outside of the marked tracks and their conveyor platforms were a mess of equipment, spare parts and other assorted gear.

The inside of the Shatterdome had even more people milling about than on the rooftop helipads. Technicians and engineers were running about with various equipment. Nick imagined that if a new Jaeger arriving results in this much of mayhem, how will the Shatterdome look during an actual Kaiju attack. However, amidst all the yelling of the working crews and general chaos of the Shatterdome, after having been away from it for seven years, he couldn't help but feel a deep sense of belonging.

Hog Kong LOCCENT, the Shatterdome's nerve centre, was situated at a mezzanine deck sticking out above the blast doors heading back towards the base. It contained, like all other former LOCCENTs, wall-to-wall monitors, holodisplays and workstations. Everything that happened in the Shatterdome or any of its Jaegers was represented on-screen at all times. Behind it and inside the base, was the mess hall, living quarters, laboratories, simulation room, gymnasium, combat training room and all the other facilities needed to house and cater to the mammals working day and night to save the world from giant alien monsters.

Nick turned in every way while admiring the view and spotted a huge clock above the doors they entered through. It was an old-fashioned flip clock, about thirty feet across and each of the flipping panels was as large as an average movie poster.

 _That's different_ , Nick thought. He didn't remember seeing anything like it at any other Shatterdomes he'd visited. And it wasn't showing the local time, it was more like a reverse-countdown clock. The time currently displayed 1 day, 21 hours, 35 minutes and 43 seconds, with the time steadily ticking up.

Lost in his thoughts, Nick walked backwards following the Marshall and Judy when he was suddenly alerted by a honk behind him. He quickly turned to see a capybara engineer in a small vehicle towing a bunch of equipment and he was standing in the way. Nick quickly mumbled an apology while stepping to the side while the large rodent sighed in frustration before driving off.

Bogo and Judy turned back at the slight commotion and realized what distracted the fox. Bogo nodded at the large clock and spoke. "War clock. We reset it after every Kaiju attack. Helps keep everyone focused on a common goal."

"That was the attack on Sydneigh," Judy clarified further.

Nick took a moment to consider that less than two days ago, he was standing in the half-frozen mud at the base of the wall in Prince Roopert, looking at the attack on the TV. And now, he was in the Hog Kong Shatterdome, back on the frontline of this war once more.

"The frequency of attacks is increasing," said Bogo, resuming walking.

"How long till the next reset?" Nick asked.

"A week, if we're lucky," Bogo said, before adding, "my experts believe there'll be a Kaiju attack even before that."

The Marshall led Judy and Nick along one of the tracks on the left side, heading towards one of the Jaeger maintenance sections. "This complex used to lodge thirty Jaegers back in the days when we had nine Shatterdomes around the Zoocific. Now we only have Hog Kong and just four Jaegers left," Bogo spoke morosely while walking.

Nick couldn't think of any response to that so he just nodded blankly.

The trio came near a tall and lean, red-coloured Jaeger with yellow streaks on its body. Bogo pointed as they came close, "Felid Typhoon, from Chyena. One of the greatest. Launched in 2021. Full titanium core, no alloys. Fifty diesel engines per muscle strand. Deadly, precise fighter."

Nick recognized the unique triple-armed design from anywhere, with two left arms instead of one. The feline-shaped Jaeger stood at 290 feet and weighed at around 1800 tons, much lighter than a Mark 3, giving it greater mobility in combat. The behemoth was powered by Chyena's specialized Midnight Orb 9 engine.

As they reached the foot of the Jaeger, Bogo spoke again. "She's piloted by the Fang Trio, twin sisters Jia and Ling Fangmeyer and Frank Delgato. The only three mammals that have ever drifted together. They've successfully defended the Hog Kong port seven times. They use the Thunderclaw formation."

Nick spotted the the two tiger sisters and the lion ranger engaged with each other in a complicated game of basketball near a hoop bolted to a stanchion. The three large cats dribbled and passed the ball in an intricate pattern, with the ease and fluidity of a well-choreographed dance, except that most of the time none of the three were even looking at each other.

Nick realized that it was the prolonged effect of repeated neural handshakes. He and Finnick also experienced something similar a few days prior to their last mission together. As brothers, they had always been close but they had also started to finish each other's sentences or handing each other stuff before even being asked. They had gone bar-hopping on a few days' leave and ended up spooking every other mammal. They ended up spending the leave at the rec room in the Ancougarage Shatterdome, playing chess or pool or checkers, all to an uncanny long string of draws.

"Yeah, I've heard of it before. Triple-arm technique. Very effective," Nick said. He had always wanted to be deployed alongside Felid Typhoon. The Thunderclaw formation was the claws on all three arms opening up fully in a circle and then spinning, creating a triple buzz-saw attack maneuver. It was used mostly as a last resort since it was messy and spread Kaiju Blue everywhere but it got the job done.

One of the tigers shot and scored. The lion quickly grabbed the ball but instead of dribbling, he turned to look at the passing trio, making direct eye contact with Nick. Nick stared back while the lion whispered something to the two tigresses who turned to look at the fox.

"Looks like I made the morning news," the fox said as he looked away from the three felines.

Judy's ears rose and she turned back. "Well, you are going to be fighting alongside them. Seems only natural that they'd be interested in seeing what you're like."

"I think it has more to do with my almost-decade-long absence from piloting Jaegers that they're concerned with," Nick said as his ears drooped.

Judy couldn't find a reply to the fox and her ears sagged as well.

Bogo saw the pair behind him from a corner of his eye and spoke. "Why don't we let the physical evaluation decide that?"

By this time, the trio had reached another Jaeger bay, in which a very heavy-looking Jaeger was being towed by a giant wheeled platform on tracks towards the maintenance catwalks.

The Marshall pointed to the Jaeger and said, "That tank's the last of the BT-90 line, first generation Mark 1, Ursine Alpha. The heaviest and oldest Jaeger still in service. Despite its age, it's still a brutal war machine."

Ursine Alpha was structurally very different from most other Jaegers. The bear-shaped Jaeger had the Conn-Pod located not in its head section, but rather in the middle of its torso, mainly for safety and energy efficiency reasons. The head section was a massive cylinder containing supercapacitors for power reserve as well as one of its signature moves, Headshock, wherein a massive electrical jolt would be discharged from the head into the Kaiju it would be fighting. The head section also contained extra tanks of fuel for its Incinerator Turbine power source, located on either side of the Conn-Pod in the chest cavity.

However, as efficient as this design was, the critical flaw in it was that the Conn-Pod had no escape hatch, a result of the early days of the war when engineers still struggled with designing the giant robots and safety measures weren't part of the construction mandate yet. If the Jaeger fell in combat, the pilots would go down with it. As was the Bearussian combat philosophy, the 250 feet and 2500 ton Jaeger was stout and heavy, built to get close to a Kaiju and take a punch to give one. And Alpha could definitely deliver punches with its arms that were more like giant battering rams. Another signature move of the old Jaeger was the Tesla Claws, where the claws at the end of the giant heavy arms were used to discharge electricity from the supercapacitors into its opponents.

"And I believe you've already met those two, Kevin and Raymond Koslov," Bogo said, pointing to the two large polar bears dressed in their Drivesuits walking towards them, followed by the maintenance team of Ursine Alpha who were guiding the Jaeger along its path on the moving platform.

"Nicholas," greeted Kevin in a heavy accent, the larger of the pair. "I had heard you would be returning. It is good to have you back in the fight again."

"Hey Kevin, Raymond" Nick gave a short nod to each.

Raymond approached Nick and gave a slight pat on his back. He said in a sombre tone, "It is no easy feat to return to the fight after such a terrible loss. I hope you find a good new partner, Nicholas."

"Thanks. I hope so too. So, how are you two doing?" Nick tried to divert the discussion to a less tragic topic.

"Not so good since Vladivosqueak Shatterdome closed," Kevin replied solemnly.

Raymond nodded, "True. It is good that Marshall Pentecost kept Hog Kong active. Or the invasion would be already over."

"I hear you. So, going for a round of Jaeger Combat Training now?" Nick asked.

Kevin replied, "Yes. We must always remain vigilant. No telling how soon until the next attack."

"It was good seeing you, Nicholas, Ms. Hopps, Marshall." Raymond nodded to each of the trio as the two bears passed them by.

Nick, Judy and Bogo nodded in return as they turned away from the two bears. Bogo spoke after a while. "Well, they sure remember you."

"How do you know them?" Judy asked the fox. "I've seen your combat history. You've never been deployed with Ursine Alpha."

Nick gave a short chuckle. "Not everything has to relate to combat, Hopps. My brother and I met those two on a TV interview in Vladivosqueak. It was right after our third Kaiju fight, if I recall correctly."

"I see," said Judy.

"Alpha has been the most successful Jaeger when it comes to holding the Miracle Mile. The Sibearian coast has stayed unbreached on the Koslovs' watch for ten years. Ten. Years," Bogo said reverently.

The fox and rabbit followed the buffalo to another Jaeger bay, which had the most people working about, trying to set up its newly-arrived occupant for maintenance. Two timberwolves were fiddling with their bags near one leg of the canine-shaped Jaeger.

Bogo bellowed for their attention. "Major and Ranger Wolfard."

Both timberwolves looked up in unison to the cape buffalo, the fangs of the older one baring in a cheery smile.

"Gentlemammals, welcome to Hog Kong." Bogo approached the pair.

The older wolf handed his bag to the younger one and approached the Marshall. "Marshall Bogo Pentecost," he said, reaching his paw for a vigorous shake which the Marshall reciprocated. "Was wondering when you were dropping by."

The wolf turned to face Judy. "And Ms. Hopps, you are always a sight for these sore eyes."

Judy blushed at the compliment. "Thank you, Major. How are you settling in?"

"Good, good," the Major nodded.

Bogo turned to face Nick. "Wilde. You remember Major Larry Wolfard, from the Mark 1 glory days. Larry, this is…"

The Major cut him off as he leaned over to shake Nick's extended paw. "I remember. We rode together before."

Nick nodded. "We did, sir. Eight years ago. It was a three Jaeger team drop."

Nick was a little surprised that Bogo had forgotten that. Granted he wasn't the one in charge of overseeing the whole operation. It was a tough fight even with three Jaegers. Howler Eureka and Foxy Danger had just barely managed to save the lives of the rangers in the third Jaeger, Lucky Serval, after it was pinned by the barbed tail of the large Category 4 Kaiju.

"That's right, Bunnila. That was before my son joined up. Tough fight," Wolfard agreed.

"Aren't they all?" Nick gave a slight smirk, which the timberwolf returned. "Saw you on TV the day before yesterday."

"Yeah, Mutavore was a big one. We didn't get the deployment signal until it was already in the city," Wolfard said with a grimace. "Ended up having to use all our AKM missiles to end the fight quickly."

Out of the corner of his eyes, Nick saw Gary staring daggers at him. After they made eye contact, he turned away with a huff and moved to talk to one of the technicians. Nick frowned slightly. It appeared that the younger Wolfard didn't share the same geniality towards the fox ranger as his father.

The Major said soberly, "Sorry about your brother, mate. It's brave of you to be back here after that."

Nick certainly didn't feel brave for returning, mostly still angry at Bogo, but he replied to the wolf cordially, "Thank you, sir."

Bogo spoke, drawing their attention. "The Major and his son, Gary Wolfard, will be running point using Howler Eureka," he said pointing up at the Jaeger beside them.

The 270 feet, 1700 ton Mark 5 Jaeger still had scuffle marks on its hull from the battle less than two days ago. Maintenance workers were slowly disassembling the chassis of the Jaeger to replace the more damaged parts. The cleaning crew was working feverishly to clean out the noxious Kaiju gunk from the Jaeger. Other crews ran hoses to various ports on the Jaeger's body, replenishing coolants, lubrication, oxygen supply etc. A few mammals worked on cleaning the six WMB2x90 Anti-Kaiju Missile launch tubes on the Jaeger's chest cavity, now opened for maintenance. Nearby, a crane held a fresh supply of six K-Stunner rockets.

Bogo continued, "Fastest Jaeger in the world. First and last of the Mark 5s. Roostralia decommissioned it just one week before the Sydneigh attack."

"Yeah, we were about to ship out that very morning," Wolfard added. "Talk about a lucky break, yeah?"

"Wait, wait, wait! Back up," Nick said suddenly, holding up his paws. The three other mammals immediately turned to look at the fox.

"You said running point. Running point on what, exactly?" Nick asked with furrowed brows.

Running point wasn't a term common to Jaeger deployments. Only offensive operations needed someone to run point and the PZDC had long stopped being on the offensive.

Bogo took a brief glance at Wolfard, who simply pursed his lips in response while giving the fox a quick measuring scan. The Marshall turned to face the fox. "We're going for the Breach, Wilde," Bogo said matter-of-factly.

"What?" Nick's voice was deadpan in surprise.

"We'll explain everything in the Conference Room tomorrow at 1700 hours. The general mission plan is to strap a twenty two hundred kilogram thermonuclear warhead on Howler's back and drop it in the Breach. That's a detonation yield equivalent to 2.4 million tons of TNT. The rest of the Jaegers will be running defense for them," the Marshall clarified.

Nick gaped at the buffalo before him. He turned to study the faces of Wolfard and Judy briefly, assessing their reactions. Neither of them seemed to be surprised by the idea that they were going to nuke the Breach. There was something going on that he didn't know. He turned back towards the Marshall. "I thought we were the resistance. Where did you get that kind of firepower with only private backers?"

"I had to pull in a lot of favours from a lot of powerful mammals for this one, Wilde," Bogo said grimly. "That's the reason why I wasn't there at Canida to retrieve you in person."

Nick scratched his head, trying to make sense of the ludicrous plan.

Bogo gave a nod to him and Judy. "Anyway, that does it for the tour. I have to discuss some logistics with the Major. Carry on, then."

"Sir, Major," Judy hopped to attention.

As the buffalo and timberwolf was about to turn, Nick broke free of his daze. "Now just hold on a second, Chief," he said, causing the larger mammals to pause.

"We've hit the Breach before. Multiple times. With everything from old-fashioned depth charges to nukes," Nick spoke frantically, "And it didn't work once. Nothing goes through it. So, what's changed now?"

Bogo furrowed his brow in response. "Conference Room. Tomorrow at 1700. Don't be late. Hopps will show you to your Jaeger now. Let's go, Major."

Wolfard turned back to nod at the fox ranger. "Good to have you back, Wilde."

"Thank you, sir," replied Nick, while his face betrayed his astonishment. Those two words got to him again. 'Your Jaeger'. Right in his core. The fox stood dumbfounded in the middle of the Jaeger Bay, his mind a swirling mess of conflicting emotions.

"Ranger Wilde?" Judy's question woke him up from his trance.

"Yeah. Sorry I spaced out there," Nick said half-heartedly.

A small frown appeared on Judy's face before being replaced by her normal optimistic disposition. "This way, follow me," she said while walking towards one of the other Jaeger Bays.

Nick adjusted his bag on his shoulder and followed the bunny.

* * *

It was a short walk back to the central staging area of the Jaeger Bay. Now Judy led Nick through another one of the tracks. They passed a couple of empty stations that once held Jaegers in the past for maintenance and repair, along with the associated catwalks, ramps, conveyors, cranes etc.

The construction of the Shatterdome was all steel, designed for function, and the Jaegers bays were littered with repair benches, tool cabinets, tote containers with lubrication oil, coolant tanks, bins full of wires and other parts — everything a repair crew would need to keep a skyscraper-sized robot in fighting form.

The fox and the rabbit passed by a crew tuning up a relay engine the size of an average car. Other smaller motor assemblies sat on benches in various stages of cleaning or repair. Nick could see another Jaeger Bay up ahead where he spotted various crews working on welding, cutting, soldering etc. on various pieces of equipment. He stopped for a second to readjust his bag to his other shoulder when Judy suddenly stopped in front of him at the entry to a viewing platform.

She pointed ahead towards the centre of the Jaeger Bay and said, "There it is."

Nick looked up to see what she was pointing at… And his heart skipped a beat…

Standing in the centre of the Jaeger bay, partially hidden behind multitudes of catwalks and cranes and platforms, was Foxy Danger.

Nick stood perfectly still. He felt as if a lightning bolt had struck him, rooting him to the ground.

He forgot all about Judy Hopps, Bogo Pentecost, the Shatterdome, the PZDC and Hog Kong. He forgot the past seven years that he spent chasing jobs from Fanghai to Vancougar. He forgot all the times he spent the night in dark alleyways, hoping not to get mugged. He forgot the few times he did questionable jobs just to put food in his belly. He forgot all the insults of his fellow construction workers... All of it…

He even, for a moment, forgot that the world was ending…

Seven years…

Judy stared at the awestruck face of the red fox. She wanted to call out to him to stir him from his daze but she felt that he needed this moment. So she stayed her tongue and waited patiently beside him, plucking out her phone from her pocket.

 _Damn,_ was Nick's first thought when he could think again, almost five minutes later. The last time he'd seen Foxy, it was missing an arm and half its head, and was spouting fluid from a dozen different holes, including the giant gaping wound punched through its torso by Knifehead.

Nick fell back into that moment; remembering the snowy beach, the blood smeared on his Drivesuit leaking out from inside, the shocked look on the face of the old lynx. The last thing he remembered before he passed out on the beach was the partially-cloudy early morning sky and the smoke billowing up from the broken chassis of Foxy Danger lying next to him.

The last thing Nick had felt before waking up a week later in the Providence Pawlaska Medical Centre in Ancougarage, was the empty space in his mind where Finnick had been just hours before.

And now Foxy Danger towered over him in the repair bay, her hull lit by multiple floodlights and flickering with the frequent lights of welding sparks. Nick gazed at the Jaeger's head, which was currently attached to the rest of the Jaeger's body with engineers working on it on catwalks. He felt as if the Jaeger was asking him silently, 'Ready for another go?'

"Wow!" was the first word Nick spoke in ten minutes since he began his reverie.

Judy's ears rose instinctively as she looked up from her phone to the fox.

Nick stepped forward and gripped onto the railings with both his paws of the viewing platform they were at. "Look at her!" he said. "Foxy Danger! Wow, she's so beautiful! She looks just like new."

"Better than new," Judy replied, putting away her phone and standing next to the fox. "We've installed a double-core nuclear reactor for the vortex turbine. Foxy Danger's one of a kind now."

Nick turned back to gaze at the Jaeger. "Yeah, she always was," he said reverently, basking in the moment.

Suddenly, a loud squeal sounded from behind the pair, breaking them out of the moment. "OH EM GOODNESS! Nick Wilde? Is that really you?"

Nick's mind yanked back as it placed the familiar voice and saw the speaker hobbling through various mammals towards them.

"Benj… ooof!" Nick's word didn't even get a chance to leave his snout before the large paws of Benjamin Clawhauser grabbed him in a ferocious glomp.

The plump cheetah spoke excitedly while hugging the fox, "Omigosh! Omigosh! I can't believe you're here, Nick! I mean, I heard you'd be coming but I haven't seen you in such a long time and…"

Judy stood to the side, looking bemusedly at the cheetah hugging the poor fox mercilessly who looked to be gasping for breath.

As the cheetah prattled on, Nick managed to speak between gasps, "Benji, buddy… easy there… can't breath…"

"Oh, oh! I'm so sorry!" Clawhauser said sheepishly, letting go of the fox.

Nick stood back, massaging his sides aching from the furious hug.

"I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" Clawhauser said worriedly.

"I'm fine, Benji," Nick replied with a pained smirk. "Gonna take a lot more than that to break this fox."

"I was on my lunch break when you arrived," Clawhauser started. "When I got back to LOCCENT, I saw Judy's report that she's arrived with you. Since then I've been asking around where you were. I should've guessed that this is where you'd be."

"Yeah. When I heard the PZDC restored a Mark 3, I never imagined it'd be my old Jaeger," Nick said, staring back at Foxy once more.

"Except she's way better now," Clawhauser said excitedly. "Solid iron hull, no alloys. Forty engine blocks per muscle strand. Hyper-torque drivers for every limb and a new fluid synapse system. It even has a way better radiation shielding now, so you won't need to take metharocin any more. And this little lady," he pointed to Judy, "oversaw it all."

Nick nodded at Judy appreciatively. "So I've heard from the Marshall."

Judy smiled in response.

Clawhauser gave a short squeal, unable to hold his excitement at seeing his old friend. "It's so good to see you again, Nick," he said, almost bouncing on his paws.

"Same here, buddy," Nick smiled widely at the bubbly cheetah. "How have the years been treating you?"

Clawhauser suddenly turned very bashful. "You, um, remember Christy from munitions at Ancougarage?"

Nick raised an eyebrow curiously, "Yeah, the tall cheetah, right? You always complained about her getting on your case for eating too many donuts. What about her?"

"Well, um, we kind of, well…" Clawhauser almost buried his face behind one of his paws while the other scratched his neck furiously.

Nick's eyes jerked to the size of saucers in sudden realization. "No way!" he exclaimed.

"Yes way," Clawhauser said meekly. "We got married three years ago when the Ancougarage Shatterdome was closed down and those of us who stayed with the PZDC moved to Hog Kong."

"My mammal!" Nick put both his paws on Clawhauser's shoulders and said with a wide smile, "Congratulations, buddy."

"Thanks. We even managed to find a little apartment on Canal Road in the Wool Chai district. Christy actually decided to leave the PZDC to work at a repair shop close to our apartment. That way she has more time to take care of our cub."

"WHAT!" Nick almost yelled in surprise, squeezing Clawhauser's shoulders and drawing odd stares from the nearby workers.

Clawhaused fished out his phone and opened a picture to show to the fox. It was an image of Christy cradling a sleeping cheetah cub while sitting on a chair, looking lovingly at the baby. Clawhauser smiled proudly. "Little Nate. Turns one year next month."

"Wow! Congratulations again, Ben," Nick said as his smile grew even wider.

But the cheetah's mood soured as he pocketed the phone, his tone wavering. "I haven't seen the little guy awake in two months. You know how the Marshall can be. He got me on Breach watch. Night and day, day and night."

Nick gave a knowing nod and patted the cheetah lightly, trying to console him.

"You know, a few months after getting married and moving to Hog Kong, Christy actually managed to get me to lose almost ten kilograms with diet and exercise. It was SO hard! But it was all worth it to see her smile at seeing my progress," the cheetah said wistfully before his tone turned sad once more. "But now that I'm stuck to my chair almost all day, I've gained all my weight back."

"I'm really sorry to hear that, buddy," Nick said with a genuine tone of sadness for his old friend.

The cheetah quickly returned to his usual cheerful self. "But enough about me. How about you? Are you ready to go back into the Drift after all this time?"

The question halted Nick in his thoughts. Even though Clawhauser asked it innocently, the fox knew that this was the real question he had been avoiding. He was fairly sure that he remembered most of the moves. So, he could probably, most likely, pilot a Jaeger and even fight a Kaiju. He'd already done it five times and few dozen times in the simulator. But could he handle another person to enter the space in his mind where his brother had once been? He had no idea.

Nick knew he was going to have to go through Finnick's last moments once again, much more vividly this time, the moment he entered the Drift. He would feel Finnick's terror again, would hear his scream again as he was yanked out of the Conn-Pod by those giant claws, would feel the blast of frigid salt air and the predatory alien roar of Knifehead as it tore through Foxy Danger's frame and ripped its arm off while sending uncontrollable tremors through Nick's own bones. Truth be told, he had never stopped reliving those memories in his mind but those memories would pale in comparison to their vividness in the Drift.

He had kept a leash on any anxiety attacks from the memories over the past seven years by working out. Any time Nick felt the memories becoming too overbearing, he had toiled away in gruelling sessions of exercise after his day job, surprising his coworkers at the wall. Thanks to these workout sessions, he had maintained his physique from his previous days as a ranger, by focusing deep into his body instead of his mind. But at some point the workouts always had to stop. And the memories were always there… waiting…

Bottom line, he didn't know. He didn't know if he was ready to have another mammal step inside his head or not. And he wouldn't know until he drifted with someone again.

Nick looked at Clawhauser, then over at Judy. They were both looking back at him with curious eyes. He coughed awkwardly, clearing his throat and pulling himself together. "I should go unpack. Haven't had a shower in two days."

"Yes, of course. Judy can show you to your quarters, can't you Judy?" Clawhauser asked the doe.

"Sure thing. The Marshall told me to do it anyway," she replied.

"Oh, right. Well, I'll see you later then, Nick. Oh, your physical and psychological evaluations are tomorrow. So you be sure to get a good night's rest. It's good to have you back where you belong, buddy. It'll be just like old times. Bye now." Clawhauser waved the duo farewell and headed back towards the LOCCENT.

Nick stared back at Foxy Danger once more. And a little while later, he hefted his bag on his shoulder and turned to Judy. "Well, Hopps, lead the way."

* * *

Author's Note:

And here's Chapter 8, or as I like to call it, Chapter Exposition-it! (crickets chirp)!

In this one, you get a look at all the Jaegers in the Shatterdome and meet the curious people piloting them and a certain other one. I hope you like what I did with the characters and stuff :)

As always, a huge intangible internet high-five for aemx for being a totes proofing-bro and helping out with a lot of the dialogue :)

And, thank you very much for your continued interest in this story. Leave your comments and reviews and always feel free to let me know if I made any mistakes and share any advice you might have :)

P.S. I've submitted this story to ZNN but haven't received any response yet. So, wish me luck there :)


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

* * *

As Nick followed Judy into the crew quarters, he was dreading having to share a bunk bed with some overly chatty cadet. But when the doe opened the door to a room with a single bed, he sighed inwardly in relief.

The room was pale yellow with patches of dark splotches from sanitized mold or dirt near the corners. The single bunk-bed was on the wall opposite from the entry door. Beside it was a chair and a desk with a cupboard. Above it was a small shelf on the wall.

Nick took it all in for a moment before he pulled the chair with a leg and dropped his duffel bag on it.

Judy stood at the doorway watching the fox. As Nick turned to face her, she said, "I figured after all these years, you'd prefer the privacy. If you need anything, I'm right across the hall."

"Thanks," Nick nodded appreciatively at the bunny.

"The bathrooms are just at the end of this hallway. The mess hall's back the way we came from, just turn right at the intersection," she said while pointing at the respective directions.

"Right then. Guess I should go take that shower now," Nick said before giving a wily smirk. "And if my nose is anything to go by, so do you."

Judy's ears shot up as her nose started twitching uncontrollably. Nick's smirk grew even wider seeing the bunny all flustered. He chuckled, "I'm kidding, Carrots. You don't smell that bad… yet."

Judy thumped her foot a few times while groaning at the aggravating fox. She struggled to determine how to respond before settling on one. "Do you have to use the nickname?"

"I didn't hear you complaining before," Nick replied with a smirk.

The doe sighed loudly. "I supposed I should be glad that you're not using it in public."

"Hey look." Nick put his paws on his knees as he leaned down a little, speaking sincerely. "I won't undermine you like that. I can guess how hard it must've been for you to prove yourself to be more than a stereotypical cute and adorable little mammal."

Judy's eyebrows furrowed and a deep frown appeared on her face. "Excuse me?" Her voice was aggressive.

"Hey, calm down," Nick said, standing up straight and putting his paws up in a placating gesture. "I didn't mean it like that. Don't forget, my brother was a fennec fox. He was even shorter than you. I saw how some of the bigger mammals treated him, like he couldn't be a ranger because he was so," Nick gestured with air-quotes, "tiny and cute and adorable!"

Judy's frown slowly dissipated at hearing the fox explain himself.

"So I think I have some idea of how much you struggled in the academy. Okay? That's all I meant to say," Nick said earnestly.

Judy stared at him with a pensive expression before replying, "Okay. Um, thanks, I guess."

"Great. So the nickname stays. Glad we're on the same page," Nick said smugly before he turned around and unzipped his bag, trying to find his towel.

Judy sighed again, shrugging helplessly. "Fine, Slick Nick. I suppose it can stay."

Nick gave an amused snort at hearing his own nickname. "Real original there, Carrots."

"Takes one to know one."

Nick turned around with his towel in his paw and gave an approving nod. "Touché. Anyway, as much as I love to stay and discuss nomenclature stereotypes with you, I do have to change into my towel. So if you'll excuse me…"

Judy ears jerked to attention as she blushed slightly. "Oh, right. Sorry," she apologized while hopping out of the fox's room. "Uh, bye for now," she said awkwardly.

"See you later, Hopps," Nick said with a smile while closing the door.

* * *

After a cool refreshing shower, Nick arrived at the mess hall starving for lunch. He never ate too much as a rule, to keep himself from becoming groggy. But the measly breakfast on the airplane could only keep him for so long.

The mess hall was a large room, capable of allocating almost a hundred medium-sized mammals. The serving area was at a raised section along the wall on the left from the entryway, accessible by stairs. There was a meal counter next to the serving area which logged a person's ID. The far end of the large room was lined with trash cans and washbasins, as well as a dish collection site next to a door. Nick spotted a moon bear wearing an apron step out from inside the door and pick up the filled container of dishes and replace it with an identical empty container before stepping back through the door with it.

The main floor area was taken up with long tables and benches beside them. There didn't appear to be any separate section for large or smaller mammals. Rather, each Jaeger crew appeared to have a designated spot. It was a little past the normal lunch hours, but the mess hall was still heavily crowded, with almost all of the tables filled with mammals of all shapes and sizes having their meals. Nick figured the additional workload due to the arrival of Howler Eureka was behind that.

Nick saw the Fang trio debating something in a corner table, surrounded by some of the technicians of Felid Typhoon. He also saw the Koslovs a few tables over, arm wrestling one another while some of the Bearussian engineers cheered them on. Unfortunately for Nick, he hadn't yet met the crew for Foxy Danger so he had no idea which table to sit at.

He was just deciding to get his meal first before looking for an empty spot when he heard the voice of Major Wolfard calling out to him. "Wilde! Come sit with us," said the timberwolf from up at the serving area. His own plate already filled, the older wolf quickly grabbed another tray and mumbled something to the pangolin serving the food, who nodded and quickly filled up the other tray.

The Major carried both plates and came down the stairs and offered one to Nick, indicating to the fox to follow him.

Nick tried to politely decline the offered plate, slightly embarrassed at the unexpectedly generous gesture. "Oh, I'm fine. Thank you."

But the old timberwolf would have none of that. "Ah, come on, mate. There's plenty of room at our table," he said while forcibly placing the tray in Nick's paws.

Unable to protest further, the fox fell in step with the Major. They walked past a couple of tables before arriving at their destination. The Major waved at a koala to scoot over to make space for Nick. After the fox sat down in the emptied seat, the Major took the corner seat beside him.

Gary Wolfard was sitting across the table from them, eating from his plate while glancing up at the unexpected visitor at their table every so often. The younger wolf was giving Nick a pointed look which the fox decided to ignore and focus instead on the plate he was carrying.

On his plate was a few pieces of bread, a scoop of mashed potatoes, a vegetable curry with peas, radish, carrots, sweet potatoes and other local veggies, some egg gravy and a fish ball. For dessert, there was an apple, a banana, a few pieces of grapes and a couple of jamun plums.

Nick couldn't believe his eyes. It was a feast compared to what he'd been eating for the last five years at various wall construction sites with his rations cards. He picked up a piece of bread and sniffed it, letting the warm aroma fill his nostrils. The smell made his mouth water. "I haven't seen bread this good in ages," he said before taking a large bite.

"Hog Kong," the Major said. "That's the beauty of an open port, no rationing. We've got fresh fruits, potatoes, peas, beans, even decent meat loaf."

Nick grunted in affirmative while he shovelled a spoonful of mashed potatoes in his mouth, savouring the taste.

Meanwhile, Gary finished his meal and sat up straight, picking up a cap that was beside him on the bench, and looked pointedly at the fox.

"Wilde," the Major said, "this is my son, Gary. He's my copilot now."

Nick gave a nod while chewing on the fish ball. The fox generally preferred a vegetable diet but occasionally enjoyed fish or seafood for protein. He noticed Gary still giving him the stinkeye which he decided to deliberately ignore and to instead enjoy his first good meal in years.

"He's more my copilot." Gary finally spoke, looking at Nick. The young wolf turned to his father. "Right, Dad?"

The Major looked at his son with a curious expression before quietly returning to his own meal.

"So, you're the one, eh?" Gary asked the fox, his father having broken the ice for him. "You're the mammal who's gonna run defence for me in that old rust bucket of yours?"

Nick stopped chewing and looked up to face the young wolf directly in the eyes. _Lousy bait, kid. My brother did better ones at half your age_ , thought the fox while he popped a few grapes in his mouth.

"That seems to be the mission plan," Nick said, finishing the grapes.

"Good," Gary nodded. "So, when was the last time you piloted a Jaeger, Nicky?"

 _Nicky!_ Nick's hackles would've surely risen had it not been for old Doug at Prince Roopert and his insulting nicknames. _Only Finn called me that._

"About seven years ago," Nick replied after waiting for a bit longer than was comfortable. Some of the engineers at the table looked cautiously between the wolf and the fox. The Major simply ate in silence while keeping both ears pointed towards the conversation.

"Well, what have you been doing for these last seven years, then?" Gary asked. "Something pretty important, I reckon."

Nick suddenly had a brief sense of deja vu. _It was the wall all over again,_ he thought. _At Prince Roopert, I was kicked around because I used to be a Jaeger pilot and nobody believed in Jaegers. And now, this brat with a chip on his shoulder is going to do it because he thinks neither Foxy nor I can cut it again. It never ends, does it?_

Nick sighed before answering, "I was in construction." _Here we go again._

"Oh wow. Well… that's great," Gary said with great blustering and mocking sarcasm. He looked around to Howler's crew, trying to egg them on. To their credit, they didn't react, only kept watching the exchange warily. "I mean, that's really useful. You know, we get into a fight and you can build your way out of it, eh, Nicky?"

Nick maintained eye contact with the young wolf for another brief period that was slightly longer than was comfortable. "It's Nick," he said calmly.

"Whatever," said Gary. He was clearly getting agitated by the fox's uncomfortable periods of silence. "You're Pentecost's bright idea. And my dad seems to like you. But it's mammals like you who brought down the Jaeger Program."

"Mammals like me?" Nick asked for clarification in an even tone.

"Yeah, like you; useless, washout, has been, whatever you like to call yourself." Gary stood up from his seat and set the cap on his head, ready to end the conversation. "To me, you're dead weight. So let me make something clear. You slow me down, I'm gonna drop you like a sack of Kaiju scat." The young wolf picked up his plate and stepped back from the table, heading towards the washbasins. "See you around, _Nick!_ "

Nick calmly watched the wolf leave, not reacting at all. He'd met plenty of mammals like Gary before. He knew the kind.

After a moment, the Major cleared his throat. "You can blame me for that one," he said in an exasperated voice. "You remember the fourth Kaiju that came out of the Breach? In Late 2014?"

Nick replied, "Codename Scissure. Attacked Sydneigh, right?"

"That's right. I was part of the Roostralian Air Force at the time and was overseeing evacuation operations before the military decided to nuke that monster. Long story short, in all the chaos, I was able to find Gary but my wife Skyler died during the attack. After that, I had to raise the pup on my own. And the one thing they don't teach you in the military, is how to raise a kid."

Nick said nothing but assessed the reaction on the Major's face while continuing his lunch.

"He's a smart pup," the Major said, "but I never knew whether to give him a hug or a good kick in his tail."

Nick exhaled audibly, before turning to face the Marshall directly. "With respect, sir, I'm pretty sure we both know which one he missed out on."

The old wolf and the fox maintained eye contact for a while before both turning to their respective meals in silence.

* * *

It was 3pm when Judy Hopps arrived at the archive room, after having finished her lunch in her room. It was empty as was expected at the time of day, except for one computer terminal at a corner of the room. And in the chair in front of the terminal sat the last mammal she expected to find; Nick Wilde.

The red fox was staring intently at the screen. Occasionally, he scribbled something on a notebook in front of him. There was a large pile of files and reports on the table, as well as in a chair next to the fox, which was pulled from the neighbouring terminal.

Judy stood at the doorway and debated with herself for a few moments whether or not to disturb the fox. Eventually she decided to not bother him and do what she originally came in for.

But the moment she started walking, the fox spoke, startling the bunny enough to involuntarily hop in surprise. "You know, Carrots, it's impolite to stare," Nick said, turning around in his chair with a wide smirk at seeing the bunny's sudden jump.

Judy put a paw on her chest to calm her racing heart. "How did you know I was here?"

"You just had lunch. I could smell the veggie curry when you entered. So I just saw the reflection on this screen of who it was," he said, pointing to the computer terminal next to him, whose screen was turned off.

"That's very observant of you," Judy said, a little impressed. She took a few steps towards the fox. "So, what are you doing? And what's with all these files?"

Nick turned back to the screen to scroll up to the top of the page he was watching. It was a post-combat analysis report of a Kaiju attack in Pacapulco in 2026. "These are combat reports of all the Kaiju attacks we've ever had."

Judy asked, her ears shooting up in astonishment, "All of them?"

Nick nodded. "Yep. I've already gone through the ones I knew from my last time as a ranger. They're on this chair here," he pointed to the chair next to him, overflowing with files. "Now I'm reading through the seven years that I missed."

"Wow! You sure can read fast."

"Thanks. I know I'm impressive," Nick said smugly.

Judy gave a smirk in return. "And you called me Textbook."

"Never said I wasn't hypocritical," Nick replied, not missing a beat. "So, what brings you here, Textbook? Grabbing some more textbooks?" he asked with a smirk.

"Har har," Judy said in a deadpan tone. "For your information, yes, I am. I'm helping Dr. Trunkaby with your Drift analysis tomorrow so I need to read up on the procedure."

As Judy went over to the books section of the archive room, Nick filed away that tidbit of information. _So she's a cadet who, according to Bogo, is the brightest one in years. She was in charge of the restoration of Foxy Danger and recruiting me. And now she's helping out with Drift analysis. What is it that you really want to do, Judy Hopps?_

That train of thought reminded him of something he wanted to look up. He quickly opened a new page on the web browser and tried to access the report of the new upgrades and modifications to Foxy Danger. Unfortunately, he was rewarded with an 'Access Unauthorized' message.

Nick tried a few more times to access the information from the PZDC's intranet but he received the same message every time, causing a deep frown to appear on his face.

"Is something wrong?" he heard Judy ask. He turned around to see her standing next to him carrying a couple of books.

"Yeah. I was trying to find the restoration report for Foxy but this page is giving me an 'Access Unauthorized' message."

"Oh right. Yes, LOCCENT told me about that," Judy replied, causing the fox to turn to face her with a questioning stare. "See, the update to the servers happen every twelve hours but due to Howler Eureka's arrival at that time, the noon update was cancelled. So the next update will be at midnight, which is when your new login will be entered into the system."

"I see," Nick said, putting a paw below his snout in thought, turning back to the screen.

"Yeah, sorry about that. You can access the report tomorrow."

"I've a better idea," the fox said, turning back to the doe. "You're the one in charge of the Restoration Program. So, unless I'm mistaken, you should have a copy of that report."

"I do, but I'm not actually supposed to share it with anyone," Judy replied with a frown.

"C'mon, Carrots, have a heart," Nick said as he stepped down from the chair and stood in front of the doe. He then leaned down to her eye-level and gave his best puppy eyes. "I'll be the one piloting her. I need to know what she can do now. Pretty please with carrots on top," he said with both paws pressed together in a pleading gesture.

Judy would've been shocked at the fox's sudden change of behaviour and the unexpected puppy eyes staring in her face, had she not spotted the tiny smirk at the corner of Nick's snout. So she simply laughed at his antics. "Alright, alright. No need to be so dramatic, Slick Nick. I'll drop off a copy in your room around, say, 7 o'clock?"

Nick dropped the act immediately. "That'll be perfect. Thanks, Hopps, you're the best. " He patted her shoulder before leaping back onto the chair.

Judy gave a sigh and shook her head at the fox's ridiculous act. "See you later, Mr. Wilde," she said as she left the room.

Nick gave a little wave to the bunny before turning back to face the screen and return to his study.

* * *

Dr. Francine Trunkaby, the elephant psychologist at the Hog Kong Shatterdome, was walking back to her lab from a meeting with Marshall Bogo Pentecost when she spotted Judy Hopps walking some distance in front of her with a few papers in her hand. The elephant called out to the rabbit, "Hey Judy," while speeding up to catch up to her.

The doe heard and turned around. "Francine. Hey. How did the meeting go?"

"Pretty good. The Marshall seems to be very confident in Nick Wilde's mental fortitude for tomorrow's evaluation, despite your report," the elephant replied.

Judy frowned. "I'm no expert but I do suspect Wilde's harbouring some serious mental trauma, even after all these years."

Francine gave a very light pat on the bunny's back. "I'd be more concerned if he didn't. Don't worry, Judy. I'll keep your report in mind tomorrow."

"Thank you, Francine."

"So, where are you headed?"

"The crew quarters. I have to give this to Ranger Wilde," Judy said, pointing at the papers in her paws.

"What is it?" Francine asked.

"The restoration report for Foxy Danger."

"Well, mind if I tag along? I haven't met him yet. You could introduce me."

"Sure thing," Judy said, while starting to walk towards the crew quarters. Francine fell in step beside the bunny.

The two friends were walking past the gym conversing among themselves when their ears caught the sound of grunts and huffs coming from inside, beyond the closed door. The elephant and the rabbit looked to each other, puzzled.

"I thought all the cadets were assigned to help the new group of engineers today," Francine said.

"That's what I heard too," Judy replied.

"Then who's in there?"

Judy gave a shrug. "Maybe one of the rangers?"

"Let's take a peek." Francine reached out her trunk to grab hold of the door handle.

"Hold on, I'll do it. No need to disturb them," Judy said, while stepping forward.

"Was that a jab at my weight, bunny?" Francine asked with a mock angry voice while withdrawing her trunk.

"Always," Judy replied with a smirk as she softly opened the door to the gym and peeked inside.

Francine leaned over and peeked through the gap in the door above the doe.

Inside the gym, they spotted a red fox wearing a pale yellow tank top and practicing against a muk yan jong training dummy. Nick Wilde had his back towards the door while he chopped, jabbed, punched and kicked the wooden structure repeatedly and tirelessly, grunting whenever he landed a powerful strike.

The rabbit and the elephant stared wordlessly at the intense exercise of the fox. They were both awestruck at the ferocity of the training session. A few minutes later, Francine was the first to regain her voice. She leaned down a little and whispered to the bunny, "Kinda reminds me of you, Judy."

Judy was startled at the sudden voice near her ears but managed to stifle a yelp. "What do you mean?" she asked with a frown.

"I mean, look at him." Francine explained, "I haven't seen anyone work out that hard since your first few years in Hog Kong."

Judy turned back to the fox, who was almost a red blur against the wooden dummy.

"He's giving it all he's got and then some. It's like he has something to prove," the elephant added.

"Maybe he does," Judy said under her breath.

"Maybe to himself?" Francine wondered.

They kept on watching the fox for a few more minutes before Judy closed the door quietly. "C'mon. Let's not disturb him," said the doe and started walking.

The elephant gave one last look at the gym door, through which the fox's grunts were still audible, before nodding and following the bunny.

* * *

Author's Note:

Welcome to Chapter 9, in which I start my slight deviations from the plot. I'll be adding many similar scenes which will explore the different aspects of the lives of being a Ranger, living in a Shatterdome and how the lives of people has changed in the ongoing Kaiju War. Oh, and Nick and Judy will get more scenes to become friends. I'm sure that's what most of you are here for anyway :P

As always, huge thanks to aemx for helping with proofing and dialogue minutia and many other editing stuffs and things :)

And, thank you very much for your continued interest in this story. Leave your comments and reviews and always feel free to let me know if I made any mistakes and share any advice you might have :)

P.S. I've received a positive response from ZNN. So, expect to see my story there soon-ish :D


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

* * *

4 March, 2030 - Kaiju War, Year 17  
Hog Kong Shatterdome, Hog Kong

Since her decision to become a Jaeger pilot at the young age of 9, Judy Hopps had always woken up early in the morning to exercise. The habit was enforced further during her stint at the Jaeger Academy. Even at the Shatterdome, she continued the practice of waking up at 5:30am and going for a little workout at the gym before getting ready for the day. Usually, she had the place all to herself; none of the other cadets showed up until a half past 6. So when she appeared at the gym the next morning, she certainly didn't expect to see the mammal who was so relentlessly exercising there the night before.

Nick Wilde was doing a few sit ups when the doe walked in. "Morning, Hopps. Had a hunch you'd be the early to bed, early to rise type," the fox said, not missing a beat of his exercise.

Judy, on the other paw, was completely surprised to see the fox, whose face showed no sign of exhaustion. He was clad in the same tank top from the night before, although the clothing appeared to have been washed. She took a moment to formulate a response before stepping on the large mat. What she really wanted to ask was how he looked so lively despite his heavy training session the previous night but she held her tongue. "And here I thought foxes were generally nocturnal," she replied, mimicking the playful tone of the fox.

Nick gave a wily smirk in response, before changing over from sit ups to push ups.

Judy started on some basic hopping exercises next to the fox. They both continued for a while in silence before Judy asked, "So, are you ready for your evaluations?"

"I hope so," Nick replied. "Ran into the Marshall on my way here. He told me the instructor would be arriving early, around 6."

Judy quickly peeked at the clock on top of the entry doorway. It showed 5:52am. "I wonder who it's gonna be?" she said, absentmindedly.

Nick's ears flicked up at the remark. "What's that?"

"Well, the previous instructor at Hog Kong quit a couple weeks ago," the bunny elaborated. "The Marshall hired a new one on his last business trip, while I was in Canida looking for you."

Nick nodded. He finished his push ups and started a round of freepaw squats. A short while later Judy finished her hopping workout, just as the door to the gym swung open, revealing a large female polar bear very familiar to the doe.

"Well, well, if it isn't Fluff Butt!" The booming voice of the polar bear echoed in the gym, drawing a curious stare from the fox, as well as a very amused smile.

"Major Friedkin!" Judy beamed excitedly at seeing her old instructor from her days at the Academy. "It's good to see you."

"Fluff Butt?" Nick asked, suppressing a rising chuckle with great difficulty.

Judy's eyes grew to the shapes of saucers as she realized that the annoying fox has now discovered her embarrassing nickname from her training days.

Major Friedkin watched her old student's ears turning red in embarrassment with a mischievous smile before deciding to intervene. "Good to see you too, Fluff Butt. And you must be Nick Wilde. Of the Wilde brothers in Pawlaska?" she asked.

Nick turned his attention from the doe to the Major. "That's right, ma'am," he replied. "Only one brother now."

"I've heard what happened." Friedkin nodded as she stepped in front of the fox. "Fuschia Friedkin. I was Hopps' drill sergeant at the Northern Zoopan Jaeger Academy," she introduced herself while reaching out for a pawshake which Nick returned firmly. "I was surprised to hear you coming back after all these years."

"Well, Hopps here drives a hard bargain," Nick said, pointing his thumb to the doe.

Judy turned her head to Nick before quickly turning back to the Major, looking even more shy. "I just…" she started.

"Tell me about it," the Major said with a snicker, cutting the doe off. "She certainly was a pawful in the academy."

Judy's ears drooped on her back in resignation.

"But enough about that." And just like that, Friedkin's friendly tone was replaced by the stern authoritative one that drew shivers from the cadets at the academy. Both Judy and Nick instinctively stood in crisp attention. "Seven years is one helluva gap. So let's see if you can still walk the walk, Foxtrot."

Judy sneaked a peek at the fox and was much delighted to see his eyes widening and him giving a brief gulp.

"Now, drop down and give me a hundred!" Friedkin shouted, pointing to the floor.

"Yes, ma'am," Nick gave a quick salute and started doing as he was told.

Judy stared at the fox with a smirk before the polar bear's voice drew her attention.

"What're you smiling about, Fuzzy Bunny? I said, drop down and give me a hundred!"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am," Judy saluted before she also started doing push ups next to the fox.

* * *

After push ups, it was jumping jacks, a five kilometer run on the treadmill and other PT exercises. To Judy, this was a fairly standard, if a bit on the heavy side, exercise regimen. But she was quite surprised to see the fox managing admirably despite his lack of practice. All the while, Friedkin wrote her remarks on a clipboard.

The time was 8am when the PT ended, leaving both fox and rabbit sitting on the floor wheezing and heaving for breath, the former being more affected than the latter.

"Not bad, Foxtrot," Friedkin said, jotting his results down on the clipboard before putting it on a table to the side.

Nick gave a weak smile. "Thank you, ma'am," he said between heavy breaths.

"Oh, you're not out of the woods yet," Friedkin said with a devious glare while cracking her knuckles. "Now, it's time for your paw-to-paw combat test."

All the colour left Nick's face as he stared up at the mountain of muscle and fur that was Major Fuschia Friedkin. He would've gulped if he had the breath for it. Even Judy herself was surprised. The polar bear always gave the cadets time to rest before combat training.

The doe was about to speak up when the Major turned to her with a glare. "Not a word out of you, Fuzzy Bunny,"she said loudly, pointing a finger at the doe. "Wilde's not a cadet who gets special treatment. He was a full-blown ranger once. And he's faced Kaijus head on that neither of us have done. If he can't handle a polar bear in unarmed combat, what chance does he have back on the field?"

Nick's breaths became slower at the words. He calmed himself before standing up. He lifted up his vest to quickly wipe his face before speaking. "She's right, Hopps. This is just like Clawhook," he said while grabbing his right shoulder with his left paw and rotating his right arm to relieve fatigue.

"Foxy Danger's third deployment?" Judy asked.

Nick nodded. "Vancougar, 2021. The fight lasted four hours. It was a gruelling nightmare." He repeated the same motions on his other arm. "Compared to that, this'll be a cakewalk," he said with a predatory glint in his eyes even though his words betrayed his lack of conviction.

"Now that's what I'm talking about," the Major said gleefully as she stepped on the combat mat with a spry steps. "Bring it, Bushy Tail."

Nick smiled with bared fangs at the polar bear before turning to Judy. "Ohh, this is gonna hurt!" he said with a mock cheerful tone, before stepping on the mat.

* * *

"Oww!" Nick yelped. "Watch it, doc. I took a mean kick there from Major Scarebear."

"And that's exactly why I have to check if there's any long term damages ," said Dr. Madge Honey Badger as she continued poking at the fox's knees and ankles with a plexor.

"Back in the academy, we called her the Bearminator," Judy said, standing to the side of the bed the fox was sitting on.

She would normally be having breakfast at this time but after seeing the beating the poor fox received from Major Friedkin, she felt bad for him and decided to accompany him to the Shatterdome's medical facility while the polar bear went to submit her evaluation report to the Marshall. At the large medical hall, they came across Madge just returning from breakfast who decided that it was the perfect time for Nick's medical evaluation.

Nick started snickering at the pun. "That's pure gold, Hopps," he said between chuckles before going into a brief spasm of cacophonous laughter which quickly stopped with a sharp yelp as the doctor prodded the base of his tail. His cry died down to a soft whimper as he sourly rubbed his rump while Madge wrote down her remarks on a clipboard.

Judy stifled a laugh. "You're fine," she said to the fox. "Don't forget, Major Friedkin's a drill sergeant. She's been training cadets for twenty years. She knows how to fight without doing any lasting damage."

"Well, it certainly feels otherwise," Nick replied with a grimace.

"If it makes you feel any better, you lasted for a full three minutes against her."

"Your cheering up needs work, Hopps," Nick said in a deadpan voice.

"No, you don't understand." Judy explained, "When we had combat practice back in the academy, she was the toughest of the all the other instructors. While the other instructors sometimes let the better fighters among us win against them, she never did. She said it was important to learn that sometimes there are fights we simply can't win in fair combat. We all knew she was going easy on us, even when she wiped the floor with us."

"Still not helping."

"Back there in the gym, she didn't pull any punches. You heard what she said. You're not a cadet who gets special treatment," Judy said flatly, causing the fox's ears to flick up straight and his tired eyes opened wide in surprise.

"I've never seen her fight so fiercely," Judy added. "That was her, a drill instructor for over twenty years, fighting for real. And you gave her just that, a real fight."

Nick's eyes widened at the implication before Dr. Honey Badger spoke. "Alright, Ranger Wilde," she said, "please take off your shirt."

"Right," the fox said, grabbing the edges of his tank top while still thinking about what the rabbit told him.

"Uhm, I should… probably head to breakfast. Yeah," Judy said awkwardly, pointing towards the exit while her ears jerked completely erect. She started sidestepping towards the door while the fox and the honey badger stared at her with bemused expressions.

As the rabbit neared the door at the other end of the medical hall, Nick turned to the other mammal with a puzzled face. "What was that all about?"

Madge shrugged before gesturing with her paw. "Shirt off, now."

Nick complied with the doctor's request and took off his tank top, which was the exact moment when Judy reached the door's handle and turned back to rapid-fire a farewell. "I'll see you later, Mr. Wi…"

Her words died in her mouth as she saw the topless fox sitting on the table, the yellow fur of his chest visible. Nose twitching feverishly, Judy's embarrassment was overcome with curiosity as her attention was drawn to those parts on the body of the fox which wasn't covered in fur. Starting at a little below Nick's chest, was four large jagged reddish-pink scars which spiralled halfway around his body before ending a little above his waist. Other than this main set of scars, there were smaller ones on his chest and his back, more than the doe could count in a cursory glance.

Meanwhile, Dr. Honey Badger stepped forward with a magnifying glass to view the scars in detail which finally brought the doe back to her senses. She quickly and quietly left the room, stopping on the other side to reflect on what she just saw.

She had read the report of injuries to Nick Wilde in Foxy Danger's fight with Knifehead. She even saw a picture of Nick lying unconscious in the hospital wrapped in bandages. But she realized that the pictures didn't do it justice. Seeing the long-lasting effects of being a ranger so vividly brought many dark thoughts to the young doe's mind, making her nose twitch even faster. She shook her head trying to ignore the bleak images as she headed for the bathrooms, hoping a good shower would clear her mind.

* * *

"This one?" asked Dr. Francine Trunkaby, holding up another card with an inkblot shape using her trunk.

Nick stared at the inkblot for a few seconds. "Two kangaroos tap-dancing."

"And this one?" the elephant queried, holding up the next card with a similar but slightly different inkblot shape.

Nick studied the image for a bit before chuckling. "Heh, this one kind of looks like the backside of Kaiceph's head."

"Kaiceph?"

"You know, the third Kaiju that came out of the Breach. Attacked Cubbo San Leocas, mid-2014. I remember seeing the attack on TV instead of studying for my high school exams," the fox said with a nostalgic smirk.

Francine nodded. "Right, right. And this last one?"

"A cabbage with two butterflies sitting on it."

The elephant nodded again and placed the card in an open cardboard box to the side which had the previous cards and drew her clipboard from next to it. She quickly jotted down a few notes using her trunk before placing it face down on the table and standing up.

"Alright, Ranger Wilde. That's it for the Roarschach inkblot test," Francine said as she picked up the box of inkblot cards and closed the lid. "And with that, ends your psychological evaluation."

"Thanks doc." Nick hopped down to the ground from the chair for larger mammals. "So, what's the verdict? How stir-crazy am I?" he asked with a smug smile.

"I won't know until I've analyzed all your responses and compared them with your previous psyche report from late 2022." Francine spoke while putting the box inside a cabinet next to the wall of the room.

"How long will that take?"

"A few hours. I should have the report ready before the evening meeting."

"Right. I'll see you later then, doc," Nick said as he turned around to leave.

"Hold on, Ranger Wilde." Nick stopped and turned back to face the elephant who continued, "I also have to check your Drift response in the simulator. So, if you're not too busy…"

"All my other evals are done, doc. I'm a free fox," Nick said with a flourish.

"Great. Right this way."

Francine led the fox out of the psyche lab and through the door right next to it. Unlike the psyche lab, which was mostly filled with various images and diagrams and charts, this room was filled with multitudes of electronic equipment of all shapes and sizes. Along the left wall was an array of screens similar to the LOCCENT but smaller. In front of the screens was a control panel with various knobs and dials and buttons and levers. In front of it were two chairs shaped for larger mammals. There were all sorts of monitoring devices connected to the panel which ran multitudes of cables to a huge capsule-shaped iron chamber on the right side of the room, standing in front of which was a familiar small mammal with two long ears, which swivelled towards the door as Nick and Francine entered.

"So, how did he do?" Judy asked Francine the moment she entered the room.

"Judy," the elephant chuckled, "you know very well I don't know that yet."

"I know that. I meant how do you think he did?"

"Uh uh! No sneak peeks," Francine said with a mocking voice while waving her trunk before stepping aside and letting the fox behind her enter the room. "Why don't you ask Ranger Wilde himself?"

Nick sauntered in wearing a smug smile. The rabbit doe's smile vanished instantly, being replaced by a very embarrassed expression as she recalled the last time she saw the fox.

"Uh, hello again… Mr… Ranger Wilde," she said awkwardly.

"Hopps," Nick smiled amiably. "Had a feeling you were gonna be here."

"You did? Why?" Judy asked.

"Well, you did tell me yesterday in the archive room that you were helping Doc Trunk with the Drift analysis."

"Oh. I did, didn't I?" Judy rubbed her paws clumsily.

"The simulator's all set, Judy?" Francine asked while sitting down on one of the large chairs.

"Yep," the doe replied. "The Conn-Pod's ready and scaled for the size of a fox."

"Red fox," Nick said while holding up a finger. "I doubt I'll fit into a Conn-Pod shaped for a fennec or a kit fox."

Judy turned to face him with an exasperated expression. "Yes, Mr. Wilde. It's set for a red fox."

Nick replied smugly, "Just checking."

"All right then. I'll boot it up," Francine said. "Any time you're ready, Ranger Wilde."

Judy opened the large iron door to the Simulator Capsule and stood beside it. "Foxes first," she said, tilting her head to point inside the chamber.

Nick gave a smirk while stepping inside the capsule. Inside, at the centre of the capsule chamber was a Conn-Pod in a Pilot Motion Rig for a single occupant, currently adjusted to the size of a red fox. The walls of the chamber were covered in screens which would display whatever simulation scenario was selected from the control panel outside. Unlike in the real thing, simulation candidates didn't need to wear a Drivesuit. Rather, they wore a neural cap which relayed their brain signals to the control panel for analysis of their Drift profile.

It was the first time Nick had seen a Conn-Pod since his last deployment. Looking at even this smaller one caused a flurry of images from that fateful night from seven years ago to pass through his mind. He took a moment to ready himself before stepping forward and into the Conn-Pod.

Judy helped Nick settle in the Motion Rig and once the fox was all strapped in, she handed him the neural cap which he put over his head and gave a thumbs up. Judy nodded and stepped outside of the chamber and closed the door.

"All set?" Francine asked over the radio.

"Yeah. Ready when you are," Nick replied.

Francine flicked a switch and all the screens around the fox inside the capsule lit up to display the words 'PZDC Drift Simulator'.

Judy came over and hopped on the other chair.

"What do you think, Judy? Scenario H?" the elephant asked.

"Isn't that a bit easy for him? He was a ranger for five years."

"Yes, but he's been retired for seven. So let's start him off with something a bit on the easy side, just to get him back into the groove."

Judy shrugged. "You're the expert."

Francine turned back to the radio as she started the countdown timer on the screens. "Alright, Ranger Wilde. Scenario starting in 4… 3… 2… 1… Begin."

And immediately, all the screens in the capsule changed to display information resembling the inside of an actual Jaeger during combat. Nick quickly glanced over the various readings like the Jaeger's position, the surrounding environment and combat target. In the simulation, the Jaeger was currently being towed by Jumphawk choppers towards a rampaging Kaiju that he could see in one of the screens.

The Kaijus in the simulation were all modelled after actual Kaijus with various different combat AI, relating to the difficulty of the scenario. The scenario difficulty also determined the combat location, time of day and weather effects. However, there was only one Jaeger model in the simulator, a slight variation of the very first Jaeger, Brawler Yakon, standardized for all types of mammal candidates.

The Jumphawks released the Jaeger about three hundred meters from the Kaiju, which resembled Tailsplitter, a Category 3 Kaiju that attacked Southern Zoopan in 2021 and was originally defeated by Felid Typhoon. The Kaiju was simulated to have been attacking a small pixelated town at the edge of a forest. Tailsplitter was a six-limbed Kaiju, standing on four limbs and attacking with two large arms. Its name came from its tail that was bifurcated from halfway down and ended in two bulbous clubs. It had a large bony structure on its head, similar to Trespasser and Mutavore, which it was using to ram into some buildings to collapse them.

The moment the motion rig jerked to a stop, simulating his landing, Nick clenched his fists and stood into a combat-ready stance. "Yeah," he exclaimed. "Come on."

Even though it was only a simulation, Nick felt the same feeling of power that came with stepping inside a Jaeger. It was a freedom unlike anything else. And he realized that this was something he had sorely missed for far too many years.

The Kaiju turned toward the threat and gave a mighty roar, before lowering its head and charging at the giant robot. Nick immediately recognized the AI pattern; scenario H, or more commonly known to cadets by its unofficial name 'Hothead'. This particular AI would charge at its opponents and was vulnerable to flanking maneuvers.

Just as the monster was in range, Nick jerked to move away from its path. The Jaeger followed his motions, letting the Kaiju rush by in its mad charge without making contact. However, the robot moved far too much than the fox intended and ended up losing its balance and tipping over.

"WHOA!" Nick barked as the Jaeger fell down on its side heavily. Simulated sounds of metal creaking and trees breaking filled the capsule.

From the control panel outside, Francine and Judy watched the scene unfold with puzzled expressions. "What just happened?" the elephant asked the rabbit.

"I don't know," Judy replied, equally confused at the Jaeger's sudden fall.

In the motion rig, Nick grunted, trying to get the Jaeger back on its feet, while keeping an eye on the giant alien beast.

The Kaiju had rushed forward quite a distance in its charge. It now stopped and was turning around. Just as the Jaeger got to its feet, Tailsplitter started charging again.

This time, Nick decided not to dodge it but rather grab its head and use the monster's own momentum to tip it over and slam it on the ground.

He readied himself again and just as the Kaiju was in range, he reached out and grabbed its neck and one of its large arms and started flipping it over. However, despite bracing for the impact, Nick was unable to handle the angular momentum of the spinning motion. He gasped as the Jaeger flipped over alongside the Kaiju, crashing on its back.

"What's going on?" Judy asked Francine, who looked just as puzzled. Both of them quickly looked over the measurement readings trying to figure out what was happening.

"Ugh," Nick grunted while getting the Jaeger to sit upright. "What's up with this… no, no, no!" He floundered about in the motion rig as Tailsplitter kicked the Jaeger with one of its legs while still lying prone, causing the robot to titter off balance and the motion rig to jerk violently, simulating the attack. Nick was unable to steady the Jaeger before another kick sent it crashing to the ground on its back once more.

Tailsplitter gave a deafening roar before pouncing on the Jaeger and moved to bite its right arm.

"No, you don't!" Nick growled as he lifted the right arm of the Jaeger in a vertical position on its elbow joint just as the large mouth of the Kaiju landed on it and firmly grabbed its slithery tongue.

Feeling the sudden pain inside its maw, the giant alien tried to move away from the fallen robot but Nick maintained his grip while using his left arm to deliver a massive hook to the Kaiju's right arm. Nick smiled at hearing the cracks of bones sounding from underneath the monster's skin.

Tailsplitter tried to roar in pain but the Jaeger still holding on to its tongue prevented that. Suddenly a sharp cracking noise drew the fox's attention, right before multiple alerts sounded, notifying him that the Jaeger's legs were being breached. From the Jaeger's position still lying on its back, Nick swung the viewing port around to see that the Kaiju was using its powerful four legs to smash into the Jaeger's legs repeatedly.

Unlike the real thing, the simulator didn't relay pain signals to the candidates as it didn't require Drivesuits. However, Nick still felt the dull sensation of a phantom pain at seeing the simulated Jaeger's legs being crushed by the monster.

Realizing that he was now incapable of standing up, Nick decided to finish the fight. He changed his angle and delivered a powerful hook on the Kaiju's face. However, the alien giant pulled back at the last second, inadvertently dodging the incoming punch. And unfortunately for Nick, the angular momentum of the punch sent the Jaeger turning around on its right side, losing the grip on the Kaiju's tongue.

"What the heck!" Nick exclaimed.

Almost instantly a large crashing noise was heard and all mammals turned their heads to the respective screens in front of them to see that Tailsplitter was using its large hammer-like head to smash into the Jaeger's midsection.

"Uh oh," Nick said, while quickly trying to access any ranged weapons the Jaeger might have before remembering with a mental facepalm that there was none, as the simulator was created to test a candidate's melee combat skills only. He attempted to sit up so he could fight back but a powerful slash from the Kaiju on the Jaeger's chest sent the Conn-Pod reeling back in tremors.

Tailsplitter pounced again before coming down hard on the Jaeger's chest with its bony head, cracking the chassis.

'Warning: Core Breached. Shutdown imminent.' The message displayed in large letters in front of the fox, who was unable to fight back as the Jaeger was rapidly losing power. Within seconds, the screens went dark and another message popped up, this time on every screen inside the capsule and the main screen on the control panel outside.

Simulation: Complete  
Combat Result: Failed  
Jaeger: 0, Kaiju: 1

Nick gaped at the screens silently, panting heavily, his mind almost disbelieving his terrible performance against the Kaiju. _I knew I'd be rusty but was abysmal, he thought to himself. And the controls… They were so… so… smooth?_

A slight sense of dread started creeping in the back of the fox's mind. _Have I really forgotten what it's like to pilot a Jaeger?_

Francine and Judy sat quietly staring at the result. Both of them had high hopes for the fox ranger. Some moments of silence later, Judy decided to break the ice. She coughed a bit before asking in the radio. "Ranger Wilde?"

The rabbit's voice on the comm broke Nick out of his dark thoughts. "Reload the scenario," he said curtly.

"Are you alright?" Francine asked.

"Just… reload the scenario." Nick's voice was completely flat. The cameras showed his face slowly hardening into a determined glare towards the screens.

The elephant and the rabbit looked at each other worriedly but did what was asked. The countdown timer began and soon, the screens in the chamber showed the Jaeger being towed through the air by Jumphawks, heading towards Tailsplitter causing destruction at the town at the edge of the forest.

Soon after the drop, the Kaiju turned to see the Jaeger and started charging like last time. Nick got into a fighting stance, digging the Jaeger's foot into the ground and bracing himself. As the Kaiju lunged, Nick reached out and grabbed the outstretched arms of the beast and used its momentum to flip it over the Jaeger and slammed it heavily onto the ground on its back. Nick felt the Jaeger tending to go off-balance again but with some effort, he managed to keep it upright.

At the control panel, Francine cheered, "There we go. He was just rusty the first time."

However, Judy wasn't fully convinced. The fox's body language on the cameras seemed a bit off to the rabbit. "I don't know. Look at his face. He's straining himself. Why?"

Francine saw what Judy was pointing at and scratched her head with her trunk in confusion.

The Kaiju quickly recovered from the slam and was attempting to get back up but Nick ran forward and punched it hard on its face, making it reel back from the impact. Nick used the height advantage to deliver a couple more heavy punches but the Kaiju started flailing its large arms wildly, making the Jaeger back away.

The large monster quickly got up on its four feet and lunged at the Jaeger. Nick decided to go on the offence and fired a powerful overhand punch with the Jaeger's right arm. It collided heavily with Tailsplitter's face, sending tremors in Nick's motion rig and the simulated Kaiju tilting to one side.

Nick followed up with a jab on the left arm. However, the Kaiju had its wind knocked out from the Jaeger's overhead punch and crashed to the ground, making Nick's jab hit nothing but air and the momentum of the punch was far too great for the fox to compensate for and despite his best efforts, the Jaeger was dragged forwards and it, too, crashed to the ground.

"Again? C'mon!" Nick growled in the chamber, struggling to quickly get back up before the Kaiju.

"Ranger Wilde, is something wrong?" Francine asked over the radio.

"I… don't know," Nick grumbled as he tried to get back up. "It's like… the controls are too… loose…"

"Loose?" the elephant repeated in puzzlement.

"What do you mean?" Judy asked. "Is the motion rig not tightened properly?"

"No, it's not the motion rig," Nick replied. "It's the controls… aah!"

Nick was interrupted when Tailsplitter suddenly used its giant tail as a whip to smash into the Jaeger's head, knocking it back and caused the motion rig to vibrate wildly. Luckily, Nick managed to use the momentum from the attack to push the robot back on its unsteady feet.

The alien beast backed away slightly. Nick recognized the move as a preparation for a charge. He calmed himself and got in stance once more.

The Kaiju gave a deafening roar and started rushing towards the giant robot. Nick narrowed his eyes and raised both arms of the Jaeger. Just as the monster was about to crash into the robot, Nick brought down both arms in a two-fist smash. The Kaiju crashed to the ground near the Jaeger's feet and skidded forwards in its momentum. Nick pushed down heavily, making the large robot jump up in the air as the giant beast passed by under it.

The Jaeger landed behind Tailsplitter. Nick grunted to keep its balance and as soon as the robot steadied itself, he slammed the its right foot down on one of the bifurcated tails of the Kaiju, ripping it off instantly. The giant alien roared in pain and scampered away from the Jaeger.

"Every time the Jaeger jumps or tilts, Nick grimaces," Judy noted. "I think he's struggling to maintain balance. I… don't understand what the problem could be…" She looked at Francine with a helpless expression.

"I see it," Francine agreed. "Very likely that it's because he's out of practice. After all, no other ranger besides him has ever returned to service after retiring and even then, after such a long gap."

Judy nodded as they watched intently on the screen both the simulation as well as the fox's reactions.

Tailsplitter roared in fury and stood up erect on its two hind legs, a rare move the AI did when hurt. It lumbered over and swung heavily at the Jaeger with its clawed arms. Nick dodged the first blow and blocked the second with his right arm while delivering a left hook.

But the Kaiju noticed the punch and leaned back quickly, letting the robot's arm soar through the air mere inches from the its face. As before, The angular momentum of the punch was far too great for Nick to handle and the Jaeger ended up twisting in place before falling face-down on the ground hard.

Nick shouted at the motion rig, "WHAT?! Why did you turn so much? I didn't use that much torque."

Now that the Jaeger was on the ground of its own volition, the Kaiju gave a victorious roar and pounced on it, clawing and smashing into its chassis with reckless abandon. Flashing lights and beeping alarms started up almost immediately and before Nick could even turn around to see what was happening, the core breach warning showed up again and screens started powering down all around the chamber. Within a few seconds, all of the screens went dark and a familiar message popped up on every screen.

Simulation: Complete  
Combat Result: Failed  
Jaeger: 0, Kaiju: 2

"That…" Nick gasped, "What!"

"I didn't think you'd be this out of practice, Ranger Wil…" Francine started, before the fox interrupted her.

"That wasn't me. There's something screwy with the controls," Nick said heatedly, having enough of wrestling with the controls.

"Ranger Wilde," the elephant spoke patiently, "you were doing construction work for seven years. Nobody expects you to jump back to being a good pilot on your first few tries."

"No, dammit! Listen to me, Doc," Nick yelled, startling both the elephant and the rabbit. "There's something weird with the controls. I can't put my finger on it… but it's… It's too loose… too sensitive..."

Francine and Judy looked to each other in confusion before the larger mammal replied with a sigh, "Alright. I'll reboot the simulator and we'll see if that fixes it."

"Thank you!" Nick exclaimed in frustration.

Francine set the system to perform a restart and then turned around to face Judy. "Judy, you've been quiet. What do you think the problem is? I think he's just out of practice."

"I don't know," Judy replied. "He performed really well in combat training this morning."

"I'm not saying he's bad at fighting. I just think he forgot how much strain on the muscles the Conn-Pod is and he's pushing it too soft or hard and that's where the discrepancy is."

"It's possible," the bunny mused. "Why don't we load up a practice scenario? Just to check if that's the issue."

"Could help, sure," Francine agreed.

As the system rebooted, Nick waited in the motion rig trying to wrap his mind around the fight. His thoughts wandered off to his fear that he had forgotten how to fight in a Jaeger but he tried to shake away that train of thought. _That wasn't me. It can't be me! There's something wrong with the controls! It has to be…_

As Nick waited in the dark interior of the capsule, lit only by the very dim phosphorescence of the screens, and stuck inside the currently motionless Conn-Pod, the nagging thought slowly started growing in the back of his mind. _What if Doc's right? Maybe I've been out of it for too long. Judy said I did great against Major Scarebear but is that enough?_

After a few minutes of being left in the dark with his equally dark thoughts, the reboot was complete and the screens lit up again, awakening the fox from his dreary imagination. Francine's voice came through the radio. "Alright, Ranger Wilde. We're going to load the practice scenario so we can try to figure out what's going on, okay?"

"Sure thing, Doc," Nick replied grimly but still gave a thumbs up to not worry the elephant psychologist who was observing him through the cameras. He tried to shake off his depressing thoughts and tried to psyche himself up.

The screens inside the capsule lit up with the practice scenario, which was simply a blank off-white coloured room for the candidates to practice their moves in the simulated Jaeger.

Nick started off with getting into a combat stance and then fired a powerful jab. The force of the jab carried the large robot forwards, causing it to go off balance and start to topple over, drawing puzzled stares from both females at the control panel.

"Whoa!" Nick yelped before quickly bringing down both his arms to block the fall. "There! You see that? That's not normal!"

"No... It isn't," Francine said hesitantly over the radio while the bunny beside her seemed to be lost in thought.

"Has to be some kind of calibration error," Nick said as he got back on his feet. "Are you sure the reflex quotient is set for a fox?"

Francine quickly checked the numbers. "Yes, they are," she replied flatly.

"But…" Nick stared blankly at his own arms in the motion rig. "It has to be something…" His dark thoughts came back again. _I am much older than I used to be… What if I'm not cut out for this job any more?_

"Wait a minute!" Judy suddenly exclaimed, startling the fox from his musings as well as the elephant. "What's the Jaeger model?"

"Huh! What do you mean?" Francine asked. "There's only one model, Brawler Yakon."

"No, I mean, what's the series number you're using?" Judy asked exuberantly.

"The latest one, Mark 5."

"Of course." Judy slapped her forehead with her paw. "Francine, Foxy Danger is Mark 3," she explained. "That's what Nick was used to. Mark 5 has more sensitive responses, which is why he's using too much force for them and the system is overreacting."

"Thank you!" Nick exulted with a sigh of relief. "There we go. Told you it wasn't me, Doc!"

"I'm… I'm so sorry…" The elephant looked mortified at her mistake. "I'll change it right now," she said as she quickly tapped buttons with her trunk.

"Don't worry about it, Doc," Nick said in an amused tone. "Jus' gotta dial down that thar' sensitivity for us old timers. We's can't deal with these newfangled advanced response times," he said with a mock twang, drawing a chuckle from both females.

"Alright, it's set to Mark 3. Try it now," Francine said.

Nick threw another jab, the simulation responding perfectly to it and the momentum was very easy for Nick to control. He followed it up with a hook and an uppercut while jumping forwards with little hops; the Jaeger responding flawlessly, never overreaching or losing balance.

"Perfect," he said, before launching into a short flurry of hooks, jabs and kicks.

"Very good, Ranger Wilde," Judy said. "Now how about we put that to the test?"

"Bring it, Hopps," Nick said joyfully as he punched his open palm, shaking the interior of the motion rig with the tremor from the simulated Jaeger.

"Okay, loading up scenario H again." Francine tapped a few buttons and the screen inside the capsule instantly changed from the blank room to the edge of the forest once more.

Judy suddenly reached over a pressed a few more buttons. The simulation suddenly went fast-forward and returned to normal time when the Jaeger was already on the ground and Tailsplitter was already charging towards it. "Mid-combat," the bunny added with a cheeky grin.

"C'mon, you big ugly mug," Nick taunted the charging Kaiju with a come-at-me gesture, drawing a roar from the beast. The Jaeger leapt in an intercept attack on the Kaiju, simulated metal and alien flesh colliding thunderously.

* * *

"I take it back. You do still remember how to fight," Judy said with a smirk as she held open the capsule door, from inside which a haggard-looking fox stepped out, smiling in response despite his obvious tiredness.

"Not bad, Ranger Wilde. I'll have to compare this data with your older Drift profile and update it accordingly," Francine spoke as she stood up from the large chair.

"Great," Nick said, his fatigue evident in his tone. "So that'll be done by this evening as well?"

"I'm afraid not," the elephant replied. "I have to also match that to our cadets' drift profiles and make a list of potential copilot candidates. But I have tonight off. So I'll start on that first thing tomorrow morning."

Nick nodded tiredly while slowly trudging towards the door. "Okay, thanks. Now, if you two ladies don't mind, I'm gonna go have a quick lunch and hit the sack. My legs feel like jelly, as well as the rest of me."

"Just remember to set the alarm for 5 o'clock. Don't want to miss the big meeting," Judy reminded.

"I remember. Thanks, both of you," Nick smiled gratefully before he traipsed out of the room with heavy steps.

"Well, he sure had a rough day," Francine said with a chuckle. "Can you please close up the simulation room for me, Judy?"

"Sure thing. See you later, Francine," Judy waved to the larger mammal as she exited the room after the fox.

* * *

Author's Note:

Welcome to the much-delayed Chapter 10. Real life decided to take a chunk out of my writing motivation and add to that my general laziness, and this chapter ended up becoming much delayed than I wanted. Really sorry about that.

In this chapter, we see Nick's fitness evaluations, featuring completely original scenes that weren't in Pacific Rim. Let me know how you feel about them :)

As always, huge thanks to aemx for helping with proofing and dialogue minutia and many other editing stuffs and things :)

And thank you very much for your continued interest in this story. Leave your comments and reviews and always feel free to let me know if I made any mistakes and share any advice you might have :)

Also a big THANK YOU to ZNN for featuring my story and many thanks to DrummerMax64 for his awesome review. Here's a link to the article: zootopianewsnetwork_com/2017/06/story-zoocific-rim_html (replace _ with .)


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

* * *

It was ten minutes to 5pm when Nick arrived outside the Conference Room of the Hog Kong Shatterdome. He stifled a yawn as he reached for the door handle when a familiar baritone voice sounded from behind, causing an involuntary frown to appear on his face.

"Wilde," Marshall Bogo Pentecost called to the fox as he arrived with a few papers in his hooves.

Nick willed his face to a neutral expression and turned back to face the cape buffalo. "Afternoon, Chief," he said cordially.

Bogo gave a nod in reply. "I received your physical, medical and psychological evaluation reports a while ago."

Nick raised a single eyebrow in a questioning stare, waiting for the larger mammal to continue.

"You're cleared for piloting a Jaeger on all three."

"Was there ever any doubt?" Nick said, the corner of his snout giving a small smirk.

"No, there wasn't," the Marshall replied evenly, much to the surprise of the red fox.

Nick pursed his lips and turned to open the door to the Conference Room, holding it open. "After you, sir," he said to the Marshall.

It was now Bogo's turn to raise one eyebrow. But he said nothing and stepped through the door, with Nick following behind.

The small Conference Room was as simple and utilitarian as the rest of the Shatterdome. The walls were a similar pale yellow colour as Nick's room, with strips of light on the ceiling, giving it a warm glow. There was two columns of chairs sized for larger mammals, arranged in ten rows, with aisles in the middle and the sides. The door was located at the back side of the room, directly opposite from the podium, the wall behind which had a projector screen, as well as a whiteboard on one side and a table on the other with a projector on top it.

Nick counted six occupants in the room already present. Major Larry Wolfard sat in the front row talking to Kevin Koslov. Raymond stood near one of the middle rows, appearing to be in a heated debate with Frank Delgato and one of the Fangmeyer sisters. At the front of the room was Dr. Pronk Oryxler, fiddling with a laptop on the table.

The Marshall walked towards the podium through the central aisle, with all five rangers standing up in attention. "At ease," the buffalo said as he reached the podium and placed the papers he was carrying onto it. The rangers took their respective seats and returned to their conversations, as the Marshall turned to talk to the oryx scientist.

Nick waited at the back of the room for a little bit before stepping forward and sitting down on a seat in the first row on the opposite side of Larry and Kevin, both of whom gave a welcoming nod to the fox before returning to their discussion.

Minutes passed while more mammals arrived to the meeting. The other Fangmeyer sister was the first to arrive, a few minutes after Nick and Bogo. She carried two cups of tea in each paw which she offered to her copilots, who were still arguing with Raymond. She gave a frustrated sigh before tapping her sister and Frank on the head and pointing to the two cups. The two felines murmured their thanks, while Raymond welcomed the third member of the Fang trio with a smile.

Next to arrive was Gary Wolfard, earphones dangling, listening to music on his phone. He sat down in the row behind his father. Quickly following behind the young wolf were a water deer and a binturong, clad in PZDC Strike Trooper uniforms, and having an animated discussion. The pair came and sat on the row behind Nick, never breaking their discussion regarding which kind of firearm was better at subduing Kaiju skin parasites.

Nick smiled at the chatter of the pair, reminding himself of the odd topics he and Finnick used to talk about all the time.

Soon enough, more and more mammals entered and when the clock struck 5pm, the Conference Room was almost filled to the brim with other Strike Troopers, Jumphawk pilots and Jaeger engineers. The small and medium sized mammals took the front rows while the larger mammals sat near the back. A skunk and a caracal came and sat down next to Nick. He turned and went over all the new faces in the room before his attention was drawn to the podium where Marshall Bogo Pentecost tapped his hoof a few times to get everyone's attention.

"Everyone," the cape buffalo began, his gruff voice loud enough to reach even the back rows in the small Conference Room, silencing the crowd. "I know some personnel are still on their way but we have a schedule to keep. So let's begin. I trust you will inform your belated colleagues of any pertinent information they miss."

A brief murmur of agreement arose from some of the mammals and the Marshall simply nodded.

"As you know, this meeting is regarding the upcoming Operation Pitfall, the Pan-Zoocific Defence Corps' last-ditch plan to stop the Kaiju Invasion and end the war. Now, many of you are already aware of the details of the mission. But this meeting is for those of you who are not aware as they've only joined us recently…" Bogo paused to look at Nick squarely, the fox sitting stiffly under his gaze, and continued, "or have resumed their post at the PZDC after a long hiatus."

As the Marshall turned his sight away from him, Nick now felt the eyes of almost the entire room on his back, specially from the two mammals next to him. He channelled his years of experience to ignore the stares and keep his attention to the podium where the cape buffalo continued on. "Make no mistakes, gentlemammals. This is our very last mission. If this fails, there will be no stopping the Kaijus and mammalkind will cease to exist soon after."

Some mutterings arose from the back side of the room. Bogo lifted a hoof to silence them. "I know there are many questions. So, I leave the stage to Dr. Pran Kumar Oryxler, our resident K-Science Officer and Breach Physics Specialist. Doctor, if you will," Bogo said as he lifted an arm to point at the oryx standing next to the table at the side, looking uneasy under the attention of the entire room.

"Um right," the oryx fiddled with the laptop and the projector on the table lit up the screen. Bogo walked to a side of the room and turned off the lights. The screen showed an incredible amount of mathematical equations with the simple title 'Breach Physics' at the top of the screen.

Nick wasn't too bad at math in high school but he couldn't even begin to make heads or tails of the formulae he saw on the screen. And judging from the groans he heard from behind him, everyone in the room was as clueless as he was, if not more so.

"So, um," Pronk began hesitantly. He paused looking at the expressions on the face of the audience, before turning back to look at the screen himself. "I now realize that those equations probably mean nothing to most of you so… shouldn't have started with that slide. Right." Pronk quickly jabbed at a few keys on the laptop and the screen changed to show the Serizoowa scale of Kaiju categorization, starting from Category 1 to Category 4, with an image of a Kaiju of the respective category under it.

"Alright, let's begin with something we all know," Pronk said, clapping his hooves together. "The Serizoowa scale, which classifies Kaijus depending on their mass, volume, movement speed, water displacement, skin thickness, blood toxicity, ambient radiation levels and a number of other factors. Now, I'm no biologist like my colleague so I won't bore you with that. What I want to bring to your attention is this…"

Pronk clicked a key and a chart appeared on the screen displaying the list of every Kaiju that has ever come out of the Breach, next to their Serizoowa category and date of appearance. "Ever since the Kaijus started emerging from the Breach, scientists all around the globe have been trying to figure out a pattern to it, so we can be ready for the next one beforehand. However, as you know, none of the hypotheses put forward by hundreds of researchers over the years have been useful. The time span between two successive Kaiju emergences has decreased over the years yet the duration has remained seemingly random."

Pronk paused, glancing at the room once more and finding that every mammal was listening to him intently. He continued, "That is, until last month. In early February, I became aware of a seismology article by a Dr. Barry DiCaprio who suggested that the presence of the Breach may be affecting the boundary interactions between the Zoocific and the Roostralian tectonic plates."

The oryx changed the screen to show a picture of the tectonic plate map under the Zoocific ocean and the picture of a bear scientist. "Dr. DiCaprio posted some interesting data in the article and that got me thinking that what if it was the other way around instead. So, I got in touch with him and with our combined knowledge I was able to come up with this." With another keystroke, the screen changed to show the initial slide full of equations.

Pronk pointed to the formulae with a laser pointer and continued, "These equations predict the next opening of the Breach, provided we have the information of the previous time of opening and the physical information of the Kaiju that came through it using the Serizoowa scale, along with some variable to account for the planet's geomagnetic field and tectonic activity. I've put in dates of all previous Breach openings and have calculated the time of the successive openings with a mere 0.6% error."

A brief gasp was heard from the back of the room, drawing the oryx's attention to the audience. The entire room looked awestruck and stared at the screen blankly.

Pronk pursed his lips and continued, "Using this, I can confidently predict with 90% certainty that there will be a Breach opening within a week. Unfortunately, I can also predict with the same 90% certainty that it will be a Double Event."

"What!" The water deer behind Nick exclaimed. "You mean two Kaijus at once?"

Pronk nodded glumly, "Correct."

"How can you be so sure of this, Doctor?" Kevin asked skeptically.

Pronk stared evenly at the polar bear and spoke passionately, "Because numbers do not lie, Ranger. Politics, poetry, promises… those are lies. But numbers are the closest we can get to understanding the true nature of our reality."

One of Nick's eyebrows lifted and he saw through the corner of his eyes many mammals turning to look to each other in confusion.

"Mark my words, gentlemammals," Pronk said. "There will be a double event. And then, shortly thereafter, three Kaijus. And then four, and then…" he trailed off.

"And then we're dead," Gary said, leaning back on his chair and slapping his paws on his lap with an air of hopelessness. "Fantastic!"

Pronk looked over the faces of the audience before continuing again. "But this is where the good news comes." The flicking ears from almost all the mammals in the room let him know that he had their attention. He turned to click a key on the laptop and the screen changed to show an image of the Breach, taken from one of the monitoring cameras fitted around the Marhyena Trench.

"Here we see an image of the Breach in its inactive phase. During this phase, we know that it is invulnerable to any form of weapon we are currently capable of creating, up to and including nuclear warheads."

Nods came from around the room and the oryx proceeded. "Now the obvious question is, how can something be invulnerable? It's because the Breach isn't a material object that we can take a hammer at. The nature of the Breach is atomic. So any bombs we drop into it are simply absorbed by the Breach itself, the energy from the explosions fuelling its presence."

Pronk pressed a few keys and a bunch of charts and graphs appeared in the screen. "Using mass spectrometry, gamma spectroscopy, atomic spectroscopy and many other readings of the Breach, both during its inactive phase and active phase — that is, when a Kaiju emerges from it — I have created a diagram of what is most likely the structure on the other side."

The screen changed to show the image of a cylindrical wireframe structure which tapered to a very narrow portion in the middle. Pronk used the laser pointer to point to the top surface of the cylinder. "Alright, so this is our side of the Breach." He then pointed to the lower surface. "And this is the place where the Kaijus are coming from, most likely another universe. For lack of a better term, I'm calling it the Anteverse. And we have no idea what is there except that the Kaijus are coming from it."

The entire room of mammals were silent as they craned their necks to get a good look at the screen.

"And this region in the middle," Pronk continued as he pointed to the narrow section in the middle of the cylinder, "I'm calling it the Throat. Now, as the Breach is a tear between two universes, by its very nature it is trying to close itself. So, some form of energy is feeding it from the other side, keeping it stable and maintaining the connection between our universe and the Anteverse. In order to destabilize the Breach, we have to do it in the Throat."

Pronk pressed a key and a video started playing, showing a tiny nuclear symbol, signifying a bomb, being dropped into the cylinder and detonating once it reached the narrowest section of the Throat. The simulated explosion caused the wireframe structure to start dissipating from the centre and ultimately reached the two surfaces, removing the passage between the two universes. "As per my simulations, an explosion of at least 7.5 petajoules or 1.8 megaton TNT equivalent would be enough to destabilize the Throat and sever the connection between the two universes."

There were muffled gasps from the room. Nick himself watched with wide eyes, realizing the implications of the closing of the Breach. It would end the war and mammalkind would be saved. He honestly didn't think it was plausible.

"However, as you saw, this requires us to put the bomb inside the Throat, which means we have to enter the Breach. And that can only be possible when it is active," Pronk said with a grimace.

"How the heck do we do that? The Breach only opens when a Kaiju is coming out of it. And by the time we kill it, the Breach will be closed," Gary spoke up angrily. Larry turned around to calm his son while many voices of agreement came from the back of the room.

"Right, right," Pronk nodded. "But you see, every time a Kaiju passes through, the Breach remains open for a short period of time before and after the passage. And from the observed data, there's a correlation between the category of a Kaiju and the amount of extra time the Breach remains open. It's roughly half a minute for a Category 4. However, with multiple Kaijus coming out in short intervals, I predict that the increased traffic will keep the Breach open between the passage of two Kaijus. And that, Rangers, is your window to drop the bomb."

Pronk finished his lecture and looked back at the audience to see every pair of eyes gaping at him as if he grew an extra head. Luckily for the oryx, Marshall Bogo intervened as he strode towards the podium from his position next to the wall, after turning the lights back on.

"And that is why," the cape buffalo started, "this is a multiple Jaeger drop. While Ursine Alpha, Felid Typhoon and Foxy Danger keep the Kaiju on this side distracted, Howler Eureka will go to the edge of the Breach and drop the thermonuclear warhead inside it. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Major Wolfard spoke up, crossing his arms and looking squarely at the buffalo and the oryx on the podium. "You said that the double event is happening within a week. But without an accurate prediction, we can't be ready for the operation by that time."

"That's true," Pronk agreed. "But I'm confident that with the additional sensor data during the double event, I can modify my equations to give a more accurate timeframe for the next Kaiju emergence. And that will give you the time to strike."

"So you're not sure?" Gary asked in an accusatory tone. "You expect us to go in with limited information on a crucial mission like this?"

"Sorry but there just isn't enough data," Pronk replied flatly. "Until the first double event occurs, this is the best we got."

Nick looked to his fellow Rangers and saw a variety of expressions on their faces. Larry Wolfard looked to be contemplative while his son looked outraged at the mission plan. The Koslovs were discussing with each other and the Fangmeyer twins seemed to be arguing with one another while Delgato tried to keep them quiet.

"What do you think of the mission plan?" a whispered voice asked Nick from behind. He turned his head to see the water deer looking at him.

"It's pretty reckless," Nick frowned. "We'll be going in based on just a prediction. But it's not like we have very many options."

"No battle plan survives contact with the enemy," the deer nodded before extending her arm. "Sergeant Heidi Nermis. The scruffy one next to me is Sergeant Arcus Parad," she said, gesturing to the binturong, who gave her a friendly shove in response.

Nick turned around a bit to shake the offered arm. "Nick Wilde, Ranger. Pleasure to meet you both."

"If there are no further questions…" the gruff voice of the Marshall drew their attention, "then I'm calling this meeting to a close. Dismissed."

All the mammals rose from their seats and started filing out of the room while Pronk turned off his laptop and started packing up the cable to the projector.

Bogo saw Larry Wolfard getting up from his seat and beckoned the timberwolf to him, "Major, a word."

Wolfard nodded and gestured to his son to go on ahead, before approaching the podium where Bogo stood. Once the room was empty save for the three of them, Bogo turned to speak but a voice from the door interrupted him.

"Wait, where'd everybody go? Is the meeting over?" Bucky asked between gasps as he all but ran into the Conference Room.

"Nice of you to finally join us, Dr. Antlerson," Bogo said sardonically while Pronk gave a biting glare to the kudu.

Bucky leaned down on one of the tables on the front row and breathed heavily. "Sorry I'm late but I didn't think the meeting would be over so quickly. I got delayed because…"

"Oh, don't bother with excuses!" Pronk sneered at his coworker. "You weren't at the meeting because you don't like my theory."

"Well, considering that your theory is based on a bunch of over-the-top assumptions, DUH! Of course I don't like it," Bucky replied angrily. "But that's not why I'm late. I was poking around in Mutavore's brain samples and discovered that some parts of the brain are still active."

"You're telling me that monster's brain is still alive?" Wolfard asked incredulously.

"What? No. Not the entire brain," Bucky clarified. "Just a bunch of neurons. And comparing with older Category 4 brain analyses, I think it's the Kaiju's hippocampus."

"The memory centre?" Bogo asked.

"Some part of it, yes," Bucky replied. "So I just had a brilliant thought. What if we were able to obtain the memories of the Kaiju? They could tell us exactly what the Breach is like and what's on the other side."

Pronk snorted, "And just how are you proposing we do that? We don't even have the technology to find out what's in another mammal's memory and…"

Bucky cut him off, "Of course we do. The Drift."

Pronk's jaw dropped. Bogo stared incredulously at the kudu, while Wolfard was the first to break the silence. "You're suggesting that we initiate a Drift with a Kaiju?"

"No, no." Bucky shook his head. "Not a whole Kaiju. Just a tiny little part of one's brain."

"Don't be absurd, Doctor," the timberwolf huffed. "Mammals can barely handle each other in the Drift. Take a predator and a prey brain, for example. And you're talking about the brain of a colossal alien beast! The neural surge would be too much. Any volunteer would die instantly or be rendered comatose."

"I agree," Bogo spoke with an air of finality.

"I don't agree," Bucky said impulsively. "It's barely a couple thousand neurons. A mammal brain has that number in tens of billions. With the proper precautions, I'm sure a Kaiju-mammal Drift would be more than possible."

"The answer is no, Dr. Antlerson," Bogo said authoritatively. "You are welcome to poke those brain pieces in any other way. Now, Dr. Oryxler, I'd like a copy of your report on my desk ASAP."

Pronk gave an affirmative nod to the Marshall while Bucky looked from Bogo's face to Wolfard's in disbelief.

"But but… his idea is so…" Bucky struggled for words before grabbing his horns in frustration.

"Your input has been noted, Dr. Antlerson," Bogo said flatly as he turned to leave the room, gesturing for Wolfard to follow. "Major. I have some mission details I'd like a fresh pair of eyes on," he said to the timberwolf who nodded curtly.

Bucky called out to the pair leaving the Conference Room, "Marshall, this is… I mean… this is possibly the most amazing thing…"

"Bucky, give it a rest already," Pronk interrupted his colleague's monologue as he picked up the laptop under his arm and started walking. "I know you're desperate to be right so you can convince yourself that you haven't wasted your life being a Kaiju groupie, but your crazy idea isn't going to work."

"Oh, shut up! It IS going to work!" the kudu spoke heatedly. His nostrils flared indignantly as he raised a hoof to the oryx. "And I'll tell you something else. Fortune favours the brave, Pronk."

Pronk sighed. "No, you shut up and listen for a change. You heard the Marshall. He won't allow you to run your little science experiment. And even if he did, you'd kill yourself," he said angrily before walking out of the room.

Bucky shook his head before stretching his arms wide, addressing the empty room, "Or I'd be a rock star!"

* * *

It was 9pm and the Shatterdome canteen was crowded with people. Judy Hopps strained her head from the serving platform for a seat. Normally, the doe took her meals in her room but it was currently a mess of follow-up paperwork due to the official conclusion of the Mark 3 Restoration Program earlier in the evening.

She sighed inwardly, deciding to head to her room anyway, when she spotted Nick Wilde leaving the canteen with his dinner plate, still full of food. Curiosity took hold of the rabbit and she quickly made her way through the hungry mammals to step outside the canteen. At first glance, she didn't see the fox anywhere. But then she saw the familiar brown tail disappear around the corner heading towards the Jaeger bays.

Puzzled at the fox's direction of choice, Judy's nose scrunched up and started to twitch. She quickly moved to the corner and turned around to see the giant blast doors to the Jaeger bay slowly closing. She bolted, taking care so as to not drop any of the food from the plate in her paws, and managed to slip through the blast doors before they closed shut.

She glanced around the sparse Jaeger bay, with only a handful of maintenance workers watching over the giant robots, and saw the same familiar tail disappear around another corner. Judy finally realized what the fox's destination might be and slowed her pace as she followed him.

A little while later, she arrived at the viewing platform where she took Nick the day before and found him sitting next to the railing, with his legs dangling beyond it. His dinner plate was next to him, its contents seemingly untouched, while he gazed warmly at the sight of Foxy Danger in the Jaeger bay before him.

Judy smiled at the scene before her and started to turn around when Nick spoke. "If you're just going to turn around and leave, then why did you bother coming here?"

Judy paused in her step and found the fox staring at her intently. Her nose started twitching under his scrutinizing gaze.

"Were you just following me to make sure I wasn't up to anything shifty?" Nick asked, his expression even.

Judy stammered, "Wha… what? No. No! I was just… I was… curious why you were… at the Jaeger bay and…"

Nick gave a cheeky grin before he started laughing wholeheartedly. "Oh Textbook, you should've seen the look on your face," he said between chuckles.

Judy stood transfixed in embarrassment before thumping her right foot on the metal floor and grunting, eliciting even more laughter from the fox.

"C'mon Hopps, I'm only pulling your tail," Nick said as he calmed his laughter. "No need to be so tense."

Judy exhaled loudly as she willed her foot to stop thumping the floor.

"The canteen was too crowded. I just wanted some peace and quiet while I eat. You're welcome to join me," Nick said as he patted the floor next to him.

"No, it's fine. I'll just go to my room and let you have some privacy," Judy said.

"Don't tell me the widdle fuzzy wuzzy bunny is afraid to sit next to a fox during dinnertime," Nick said with a twinkle of humour in his eyes, knowing that the jab will get to the rabbit.

Judy's monotone flat reaction and half-lidded eyes told him that it did. "Really? Aren't you supposed to be older than me?" She shook her head and chuckled as she sat down next to him. "Fine."

Nick gave a smirk before lifting his plate onto his lap and started eating. Judy followed suit and the two ate in a companionable silence, looking over the hangar bay where the maintenance workers worked on Foxy Danger while some engineers were packing up their tools.

"Expected you at the meeting this afternoon."

Judy's ears perked up at the fox's words and she turned to see him looking at her.

"The meeting was only for Rangers, Strike Troopers and Lead Engineers," she replied. "Besides, all us cadets had the day off today."

"You don't say," Nick said smugly. "That explains why you were at the Shatterdome all day."

"Well, I'm not just a cadet. I have other responsibilities."

"Like following a certain Ranger around all day?" Nick asked with a smirk.

"Like overseeing the Mark 3 Restoration Project," Judy replied in a deadpan voice. "Today was the official date of conclusion and for your information, I spent the whole evening finishing up the paperwork and signing cheques for the outsourced engineers. You can see them packing up down there."

Nick blinked a few times at the doe's reply and turned back to stare at the floor of the hangar bay. Sure enough, he could see engineers gathering their tools and slowly heading out while maintenance workers took up their spots to oversee the Jaeger. Judy was satisfied to have shut up the annoying fox with her answer and resumed her meal.

"You know, I don't think I've thanked you yet."

The abrupt change in topic had both of Judy's ears rising. "For what?" she asked.

"For repairing Foxy," Nick replied, pointing at the Jaeger, "and giving me my old job back."

"I didn't start the Restoration Project," Judy said, looking at the robot. "I was only put in charge about halfway through it. The engineers are the ones you should be thanking. And I was only sent to rehire you because the Marshall was busy. Or he would've gone himself."

"Hah!" Nick snorted. "I seriously doubt that."

Judy studied Nick's face carefully and saw the sneer that he was struggling to hide. She knew there was some bad history between the fox and the buffalo and she felt the urge to ask him. But she stayed her tongue, feeling it would be inappropriate.

"Anyway, I appreciate it," Nick said as he turned to face her with a sincere smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Judy said, beaming, "for whatever little work I did."

Nick chuckled at the doe's words. "So you're telling me you weren't the one who suggested and designed the retractable sword?"

Judy's ears perked up instantly. "How do you know about that?"

"You were the one who dropped off the restoration report in my room last night," Nick shrugged.

"I just didn't think you'd have time to read up on that considering how hectic today's been," Judy said as her ears lowered.

"I read it last night," Nick replied simply as he dug into the vegetable curry.

"Oh," Judy said quietly while biting into a steamed carrot. "Come to think of it, you do strike me as the staying up late type."

Nick turned to see a very self-satisfied smug expression on the bunny's face. He gave an approving smile before throwing a couple of plums into his mouth.

The pair continued their meal in silence until Judy spoke up. "To answer your question, yes, it was my idea to add the sword."

"And redesign the Plasmacaster?" Nick asked.

"And that," Judy agreed. "From the report of your fight in Ancougarage, it was apparent that the slower recharge time of the weapon was a liability. So I wanted to improve that."

"And you needed to reduce the energy output?"

"Yeah. I wanted to upgrade it using the supercapacitors used for the Mark 5 line but they jeopardized the coolant control circuit and EMP protection of the vortex turbine."

"Never a good idea to mess with a nuclear reactor," Nick commented as he chomped on a banana.

"Let alone a double core one," Judy added as she bit down on an apple.

"Still, the energy output is only 15% less than before while the charge time is a whopping 38% less. I call that an improvement," Nick said with an approving smile.

"Thank you. And the reduction in size made me think of adding some sort of last-resort kind of weapon," Judy said. "You know, Felid Typhoon has the Thunderclaw, Howler Eureka has the Sting-blades…"

"Wait, Sting-blades?" Nick asked, never having heard the term before.

"Yeah, they were added two years ago, after the fight with Rachnid."

"Attacked Braysbane, right? In Roostralia? I only read about that yesterday. Said it was a long fight."

"Yep," Judy said, finishing her dinner and putting the plate aside. "Five hours eighteen minutes. Longest solo engagement to date. After the fight, Major Wolfard reported that a bladed weapon would've helped immensely."

"Right. The Kaiju's skin was elastic and leathery so any blunt attacks were absorbed," Nick recalled from the report, while he put his own plate aside, having finished eating.

"Even the Anti-Kaiju missiles were no good. So, Marshall Pentecost authorized the addition of a bifurcated blade in each arm of Howler, as a last resort. Messy, but gets the job done."

"So why didn't you just add those to Foxy?" Nick asked, curious. "You already had the design specs for them."

"The blades only work well with Howler because of the Mark 5's extra mobility due to the lighter frame. Foxy's much heavier, giving her greater inertia but lower speed."

"So you needed a weapon that can utilize that extra inertia," Nick said.

"Exactly."

"Colour me impressed, Carrots," Nick said as he leaned back on his arms. "Finn would've been ecstatic to see the sword."

Judy's ears raised at the mention of the fox's late brother. "Really?"

"Uh huh. He was a fan of melee weapons. As a kid, he even had a favourite baseball bat. Do you know he posed for all of his school yearbook pictures with that bat? Dad was beyond frustrated and would try to take the bat away from him. And Mom would just give it back and encourage us to be ourselves," Nick said with a nostalgic smile.

Judy looked at the wistful face of the fox and her curiosity got the better of her.

"Can I…" she hesitated, the fox turning to face her inquisitively in response. "Can I ask you a personal question?" asked the doe.

Nick raised one of his eyebrows but replied smoothly, "Shoot."

"I mean, you don't have to answer if you don't want to," Judy rambled nervously. "I fully understand if you want to keep your private life to your…"

"Hopps," Nick said, interrupting the doe. Despite finding the bunny's babbling to be hilarious, he urged her to get on with the conversation. "Ask the question."

"Right," Judy nodded. "Okay, so, you're a red fox."

"Last I checked," Nick replied smugly.

"And your brother was a fennec fox."

"Also true."

"So… I was just wondering…" Judy hesitated.

During her awkward pause, Nick leaned forward on an elbow and bluntly finished her question for her. "Which one of us is adopted?"

"Yeah," the doe replied, her ears drooping on her back.

Nick shrugged, "His birth parents were friends with my parents back when they started dating. Long story short, their van was in an accident and Finn was the only survivor. My parents didn't want the little guy to grow up in an orphanage so they got married and adopted him."

"That's terrible," Judy gasped, her palms covering her mouth.

"Sure but you wouldn't think that if you knew him," Nick said candidly. "Would you believe he used to tell this story to vixens to try to pick them up at bars?"

"What!" Judy's jaw hung open in surprise.

"It's true. He was quite the shameless tail-chaser," Nick said with a chuckle before sighing audibly. Talking about his brother's habits reminded the fox how much he missed him. And his thoughts invariably started to wander towards that fateful night.

The air between the odd pair grew heavy. Judy kept quiet, digesting the new information. Nick tried to will his breathing to a uniform rate, hoping to control his thoughts from turning too grim. They stayed like so for a few minutes before Nick broke the silence.

"Alright, my turn," he said with an animated clap, drawing the bunny's attention.

"What?" she asked, being roused from her thoughts.

"You asked me a personal question and now I'll ask you one," the fox clarified. "Turnabout is fair play, right?"

"Uh right," Judy replied nervously.

"Good," Nick nodded. "Back at Jumbeaux's Diner in Prince Roopert, you apologized saying that you didn't want me to return to my old job at the PZDC." Nick paused, carefully studying the expressions on Judy's face.

For her part, Judy's ears went completely erect as Nick finished the sentence. She was afraid the fox might bring that up but hoped that he had forgotten about that.

Nick observed the expression of the doe change from one of shock to shame in a very short interval, as her nose started twitching rapidly. He kept his own expression even and asked curtly, "Why?"

Judy turned her head to stare at her lap, her paws fidgeting. She opened and closed her mouth a few times to start talking but couldn't.

Nick waited a full minute seeing the bunny squirm while failing to come up with an answer before he spoke again. "Jeez, Hopps. Don't get your ears in a twist," he tried to sound amused, hoping to lighten the air between them. "It's like you said, you don't have to answer if you don't want..."

"I'm selfish," Judy said in a low murmur, interrupting the fox.

"What was that?" Nick asked, not having clearly heard what the doe said.

"Because I'm a selfish bunny," Judy said with a great sigh as she slumped down.

Nick frowned at the answer but waited silently for the doe to continue.

Judy took a large breath to calm herself and started, "I wanted to be a Jaeger pilot ever since I was a kid. But when I passed out of the academy, the ZN had already cut the funding to the PZDC. So no new Jaegers were being built any more and I thought my dream was over. But then the Marshall commissioned the Mark 3 Restoration Project. I just HAD to be the one to pilot it. So I decided to poke my head in various parts of the project until Marshall Bogo decided to put me in charge."

Judy paused to take a breath before continuing again. "Near the end of the project, I applied for the pilot tryouts. But… I was rejected," she said with a dejected voice.

"What's your Simulator score?" Nick asked.

Judy replied, "Fifty one drops, fifty one kills."

"Wow," Nick gave a whistle. "That's amazing. So why were you rejected?"

"Because…" the bunny hesitated, "because my Drift profile doesn't match with anyone else!" Tears started pooling at Judy's eyes so she kept her head down, hiding it from the fox.

"Ah," Nick exclaimed, connecting the dots. "So when the Marshall decided to rehire me, you felt that I stole your job. And to add insult to injury, you were the one sent to recruit me."

Judy slumped down further, leaning her head on the safety railings. "It was nobody's fault, I knew that. And I still took it out on you. I'm so sorry, Ranger Wilde."

Nick stayed quiet, lost in thought. He never really had any big childhood dreams. All he ever wanted was a normal life with his family, a few close friends he could call a pack and a job he was happy with. He never wanted to be a Jaeger pilot, not even when he saw them in action on TV. But his dream never came true either. His friends drifted apart, his girlfriend broke up with him, his father walked out on his family, his heartbroken mother died of her own addiction. All he had left was his brother. And despite some tough years without any jobs, they became Rangers, fighting Kaijus and protecting the people. He found some happiness in serving others. But even that was taken away from him alongside his brother, leaving him a broken shell of a mammal for years.

He reached out and gave a soft pat on the bunny's back, startling the doe. She turned to look at his face which showed a weak, pained smile. "I already accepted your apology back in the diner, Hopps. We're even."

Judy didn't answer, knowing that her voice would break if she did. Instead she just nodded gratefully.

They silently stared at each other for a few moments before Nick took his dinner plate and stood up. He didn't know what to say to the doe so he decided to leave her to her own thoughts to calm down. He turned to Judy and said, "See you tomorrow," and then started walking back towards the canteen, leaving Judy alone in the viewing platform.

The bunny watched the fox leave until he was out of sight, before she turned to look at the vulpine-shaped Jaeger, glinting in the many lights of the Jaeger bay. She gazed breathlessly for a few seconds before sighing loudly. She wiped the tear stains on the fur under her eyes and stood up with her plate and started her trek towards the canteen.

* * *

Author's Note:

Yet another delayed chapter. These appear to be getting more frequent aren't they? I only have my laziness to blame :(

Regarding the chapter itself, I delve into the exposition side yet again, taking a similar but different route from the film once more. And then we have some original scene of Nick and Judy becoming friendlier with each other. After all, that's pretty much 95% of the reason you're all here :P

As always,a super thanks to aemx for the proofreading and assistance with the dialogues of the characters. And me being a stubborn mule and asking for clarification every time delaying the release even further :|

And thank you very much for your continued interest in this story. Getting those little Kudos and Favourite notifications are so great to see in my emails. You're always welcome to leave your comments and reviews and do feel free to let me know if I made any mistakes and share any advice you might have :)

Also, I came across this awesome mashup fanart a few days ago. And it has a beautiful shot of Nick and Judy inside the Conn-Pod in their Drivesuits:

peterkothe_tumblr_com/post/158227931957/kaiju-category-4-code-name-tamatoa-deploy (replace _ with .)


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